Hogs Haven
Washington Post (paywall)
Once he’s healthy, why play the second-year quarterback in a lost season? Because Washington needs to continue to build its future.
Here’s what is important about the last six games of a Commanders season gone awry: that Daniels not only reappears but re-establishes himself. For now, he is out because of a dislocated elbow. He has played just once in the past month. When he misses Sunday night’s game against Denver — as Coach Dan Quinn said he’s expected to — he will have sat out as many times as he has suited up.
That’s no way to build on a meteoric rookie season. It’s a way to stagnate. In 2025, Daniels has not yet played in and completed three straight games. All that makes it imperative, when he’s finally healthy, that he play as much as possible.
Get him out there. Get him more reps. Get him in a rhythm. Send him into an important offseason with the full confidence of his fan base behind him.
“I got to go out there and play football,” Daniels told reporters at a team charity event Tuesday. “If I’m back out there, I’m healthy and I’m ready to go, I want to be out there.”
Great. We’re all on the same page.
The Athletic (paywall)
Quinn knows how he wants his defense to look, and he made his vision come to life in Madrid, where the Commanders held the Miami Dolphins to 16 points in an overtime loss. Washington’s defense somehow snapped back into being a detailed, efficient group, capable of producing two goal-line stands while limiting Miami’s explosive plays.
But when he was introduced as the Commanders’ coach in 2024, Quinn said he learned from his time as the Atlanta Falcons’ coach that he needed to delegate more. It’s why he chose not to call plays when he signed with Washington.
“The essence of a head coach is to put it all together,” he said in February 2024. “It’s not to be an offensive coach or a defensive coach or a special teams coach. Like, it’s everything. … It’s the chemistry, it’s the messaging, it’s the play style, it’s the attitude, it’s the swagger. That’s my No. 1 job, to make sure all of this comes together.”
Since taking over as defensive coordinator two weeks ago, Quinn has changed parts of his routine and relied more on some of his assistants to help keep him in the loop with all three phases. Assistant head coach/offensive pass game coordinator Brian Johnson and special teams coordinator Larry Izzo regularly keep Quinn abreast of what’s going on with the offense and special teams, and senior vice president of football initiatives Dave Gardi has been instrumental in helping Quinn on game days.
It would seem unlikely that he would relinquish play calling back...
