Dan Quinn - Head Coach, commanders Event: Press Conference | Date: 2026-08-31 | Full transcript (primary source).
Dan Quinn, Head Coach of the Commanders, addressed the media during a press conference on August 31, 2026, following the conclusion of training camp. In his remarks, he provided a recap of the camp's productivity and highlighted key performances and developments within the team.
Transcript
Quinn: It's good to see you guys. I'll do a little bit of training camp recap and then we'll kick it over to Adam. He can hit some things and then we'll get rolling. I thought as a team standpoint we threw a really productive and tough camp. We set out to do that and we certainly did. Some of what I liked most from camp, the competitions every day that we hit. We hit situations every day. I like the long drive drills that we did. We hadn't done that previously. The collets, it was good to see the systems come to life offensively and defensively. I was very impressed with Durante and David, their communication with the players and that may seem simple but I'm telling you it's not. And having the ability to teach, get the information exactly how you want it and then get to it, it was excellent. Like the speed of the front seven on defense, I saw that with OA and KC and DA and Sonny and Louvoo and Leo and others. I love the leadership I saw with some of the vets like Terry and Rebo and I love Jaden's readiness. He took almost we took over 500 snaps in this training camp. That's almost like a half seasons worth of reps and his timing with Steph and Terry is invaluable. You know with a new system so to put that kind of work in. He's elite with the ball in his hand. He's been decisive in the system so it's good to get into that. I'm also excited to say a couple guys have back at practice today so that would be Alec Reddy and Mariota and Payne and McGee and Sennett to name a few. So it's good to have them back with it and we'll practice three days this week Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and we're excited to get rolling back on the field today. So kick it to AP and then we'll get started with you guys. I want to give you some insights about what I liked about the camp and what we set out to do.
Unknown: Thanks Q and yeah I want to second that really good camp really pleased with where we are how we competed in camp and then ended up but you know coming off a tough weekend and really it's the worst weekend of our year for sure having to have these conversations and moving on for some guys and just want to thank and show appreciation for those players that that worked their ass off excuse me their tails off for yeah it's okay we're really worked their tails off really throughout the offseason some for a couple years and really throughout this training camp and you know we made some tough decisions and you know it's never easy and you know want to just show appreciation for those guys. I want to thank our Pro Department did a great job you know getting us ready for this weekend and seeing what's out there and what's available out in the league and we were able to add some guys on other teams which will come across here here pretty soon but really happy where we are looking forward to getting like DQ said some of the guys back that we were missing throughout the second half of camp getting those guys back and ready for Philly and that said though we're still you know we're far from done we're always looking to improve our team and we'll keep doing that you know we still have another 13 days till we play there so some more stuff can happen but happy with who we have and where we're at right now.
Unknown: This is for both Dan and I love that the amount of work that Sam and Josh on the right side have gotten and I love the amount of work that Chris and BC have gotten and with Brandon obviously like Laramie going down like that sucks and so we're still working through where we're at center we're excited to get Nick back into the fold today John so we'll have a you know good sense of and working this week and then next week with Matt as well so but I don't want lost like you know the battery of the right side and the left side I've gotten a lot of good work in together so I'm excited to see what you know this week and then in the next week bring it with Nick and kind of rolling with him and Matt and get going from there.
Unknown: Yeah Shawn didn't prepare us for that question we had no idea that was coming but I'll just wing it yeah but yeah I echo what DQ says you know I really you know first like losing LT was a big deal but very fortunate to have Brandon who's played a lot of snaps out there a left tackle and then and then having Chris to play a lot of snaps there at left guard like DQ was alluding to and then the right side we those two guys have played a lot of a lot of football too together so not having Nick for most of camp what was something we had to work through but we have a ton of confidence in him and you know he's played I think three three thousand some odd snaps in this league and he's played good football for us before he went through the whole offseason so we're really confident he's not a guy that needs a ton of reps you know especially from a mental standpoint and then working to Matt you know we're very confident Matt that's why we drafted him and and he's really passed all those tests that we thought he would and really see a bright future in him and then we brought Julian back on the practice squad who played a lot of snaps for us throughout the offseason and preseason too so we liked that group and like I said if there's somebody else that that we feel that would add to it we're not afraid to do that certainly do.
Unknown: Yes and I kind of like referring back to what AP said like number played a lot of snaps you don't talk about like Nick and it's like it's been nice to get like Sam and Josh all this time together if you remember last year in training camp Sam wasn't here and so to have like these combination of guys going that way a lot of confidence.
Unknown: Yeah I mean I mean that's something we've already covered a little bit I think Nicky in terms of I don't want to go back and talk about Tyler and all that but certainly we feel very confident Nick and we have and that was you know that's where we went in this offseason feeling that Nick could be our starter and still do feel that way you know and what we who we went for and who we did or didn't get you know I don't think we want to get into rewriting history we're talking about six months ago but we were able to get a lot of really good players and free agency and you know those are the guys that were really excited to see go play here in a couple Sundays.
Unknown: But for me okay yeah you know obviously you know not having Trey you know he's he's he hasn't played really since the midseason last year so you know want to take it slow with him that's why we put him on IR and you know could he have come back you know right around you know in a few weeks maybe but with you know with the advances in sports science and understanding you know what it will take for him to get ready to play for from not having played since midseason last year we wanted to take that a little bit slower so we're confident he'll be ready when he's when he's time when it's time for him to come out.
Unknown: In terms of the rest of the position really happy that we added the guys that we did with Rasool and Fabian Leighton in this training camp and they're gonna really help us early on in this year and then we'll grab a couple other guys here on the practice squad that played a lot of NFL ball to that'll help us but certainly feel a lot better when Trey's back.
Quinn: Dan you had said after Detroit that there were some things that you had to figure out at center so this isn't so much about Allegretti it's more about Julian and Gulben like what have you seen that gives you confidence that if those two guys either of those guys has to step into a game and play that they're ready to do so?
Quinn: Yeah let's start with Matt first and I thought sometimes with the rookies you see this progress take place you know I think I saw Adam and I were talking about it just over the weekend like Antonio you know and you feel like a lift that goes on with it we're seeing it with Matt in the same way I love I feel his strength Dave in the pocket he's not somebody that repeats a lot of mistakes to go and so I think is he gonna make some hell yeah like that was part of like training camp and learning and digging in for it same with Sonny or anybody else that went to see him not repeat those like that's the sign of a mature player who's making a lot of progress almost like Jayden a couple years ago you sometimes can see a player's experience out on the practice field here's a situation here's why I called it to here like he has good upper-level football smarts to him and then with Julian playing as much as he did this training camp it will pay dividends for us to have that much experience here's a guy we signed on the practice quad we love here he works his ass off going through it so that's why there is dividends even though sometimes it's hard there is silver linings in that as well and so seeing Matt take an extra look over the last I don't know let's call it ten days or so was definitely something that we had planned to do and pleased with what we've seen and like the progress that he's making I guess he's a tough competitor.
Unknown: Also is there any update on away in terms of where he is?
Quinn: Good and he won't be practicing with us today but he's making a lot of progress and as we're getting into next week we're thrilled that he's you know making this kind of progress to get ready.
Unknown: Yeah I think you know we're both both of us sitting up here would wish we would perform a little bit better than those last two games you know from my seat you know obviously you want to look and see how the whole team is performing and how they're playing together but also you're looking at the individual performances and who's who stood out you know in those and and really separated themselves so you know in terms of evaluating we can single out guys and say all right this guy maybe we didn't perform well as a team in these certain areas but certain players really perform really well you know and I mean you guys saw with Craig Reynolds you know really did an incredible job this last game as one example of a guy who was really going for it and he's gonna help us this year and signing him to the practice squad and those are the things you could you can pull out of those and like all right who are the guys that are really going for it and really want to be commanders and that are going to help us and so you know obviously you want to perform well and win those games but you also are trying to get a lot out of these games too that they don't really you know they don't really count in the end.
Unknown: You know dual standouts how many years if any your time does being a draft pick by a player none yeah you got to earn everything in this league.
Unknown: Yeah at cornerback you know for most of camp with Amos not being out there we've seen Mikey sort of go back and forth playing inside outside how do you see that you know in terms of alignment that group coming together with him and players like Rizzo Douglas maybe playing outside?
Unknown: Yeah and it was got a lot of experience outside too so you probably saw last week we also did a meek inside and we thought that's it also valuable you know to have different guys into different locations to see what to do it also comes up when you sometimes match on some people right side left side I'm inside I'm outside but Rizzo and Fabian have been really good additions you know to our team I've known of Rizzo and Fabian but then getting a chance to coach them see their football knowledge you know like their awareness like that's a big deal and so the competitiveness that like Amik and Mike have like once they like said it and then Rizzo and Fabian are kind of like yeah I got it you know like they're like it's a good ying and yang honestly I love the ball skills of both the guys and that's something that obviously like you've heard us talk through the training camp I think we're significantly improved you know in that area of attacking it and Rizzo and Fabian and Mike and Amik and others like that part of it is a big deal so we're excited they're here.
Unknown: What about Athens stood out throughout the evaluation process and then ultimately when it came to sit in a roster why do you think it was important to keep three quarterbacks a lot of teams in the league or you know keeping two nowadays so why was it important to have that extra depth there?
Unknown: Yeah I mean yeah you see you do see that teams keep to some deep scheme teams keep three some keep four so it's just I think a lot of it's a function of who you have in that room you know across the league but eighth and we really just loved his you know his arm talent his moxie his competitiveness that's what we saw on tape and those are a lot of things you saw on the preseason tape and just the way he could extend plays and and you know made some plays under pressure also standing in the pocket and making big-time throws he made a lot of really big-time throws in the preseason and that was something that we were really pleased to see and he's not a not afraid to rip it you know and and a lot of times you see that in the preseason where guys get in the game and and they'll go straight to their check down because that's more comfortable and you know easy completion but he wasn't afraid to make mistakes he wasn't afraid to rip it and certainly it wasn't all perfect there's a lot of different things that he's got a lot of room to grow in a lot of different ways but really liked his progress and he's a guy we definitely want to work with in the future really all the all four guys that we have are guys we really like and want to work with in the future but eighth and certainly are in that.
Unknown: Yeah for you first you mentioned Fabian in the present chance, does it confirm that Fabian is coming back?
Unknown: Yes. And then coming off of the Ravens game in particular, what do you want David and Durante to take away from offense when he was able to get through points for Durante's unit? Obviously the 41 points but throughout the preseason the run defense averaged 160 a game. What do you want him to take away from how Friday went down?
Unknown: Yeah I would say the things that I did not like and that he would agree with you like we had a lot of missed tackles in that game and it was like that that's unacceptable so like play good defense like you got a tackle well like our league has a lot of space generating plays and like oftentimes that's where the explosive comes and so on defense and on special teams like our ability to make tackles like that's a really big deal I love the run and hit factor of some of the guys but to see those missed tackles in the game that was disappointing for sure.
Unknown: On the offensive side honestly like like the biggest one was like not being able to sustain third downs and you know like continue on to drives and all sudden get out of whack time of possession and others so sometimes in a game like that people press too much there's a lot of them on entire team or entire unit but there were definitely examples that AP and I said it felt you wanted it so badly that you're out of whack and I've seen that before you know through the years but as far as like we came in right and had a practice the next day I guess that would have been Saturday and I loved what I saw from the group on that day I certainly was not pleased the night prior but seeing that day of the communication the speed of what I was looking for they threw a great practice and like into this one I'm looking for execution decisiveness and really skill work that's my main focus on these three days and then they need a minute they needed to take a beat and then we'll come back and get into the game week and the flow of that but it was by design to like throw a tough ass camp work the skills into this space yesterday as Adam was kind of referring to earlier like it's a heavy weekend and like it's never lost on us you know the weight of that and what goes into it and as we get into today and tomorrow and the next day we've been at a few guys you know that are gonna be part of our crew practice squad or otherwise and so it's really about leveling up and setting us up you know for as we're getting into the regular season to go but the tough camp was part of that not part of the game that was just pissed there's a lot that was pissed about we'd have all day if I was good but we're moving on around Cincinnati.
Unknown: Yeah that's a good question and really yeah I thought we probably there's probably a couple other guys that could have made it too that was a real ended up being in a really deep room and all those guys have a little bit different skill set and little different ways they can help our team some of them are better on special teams some of them are better you know inside outside and so we wanted to keep a mix of all those guys and and we thought you know more than who we kept were NFL players and so really wanted to keep all the guys that we thought could help us this year and so seven is probably usually keep maybe six you know five six or seven you can keep any of those numbers and whatever you do you're taking away from another position and so you try to balance that out be try to get you know the best 53 that you can get and so we certainly felt we had seven really capable NFL players at that position.
Unknown: Yeah I would say from the practices you've been at I like that we utilize different fronts in Durante's package there's some that are you know five and six guys down by the line four guys down by the line by certainly by no means like did we like what we see all but I would also say there's a lot that we did not show in that space and so kind of Adam was referring to earlier there's so many evaluations that are taking place and sometimes it's of the really good play but also it's of the things that you don't like quite as well and so I would not say it's indicative of a scheme issue that came through we're excited about where we're headed with the group but I would say you could almost look into too many things too much in a preseason game how much runs yard you had versus how much you didn't allow it's just I'd like to say more complicated it's less complicated but I wasn't pleased with it but I would say you saw a fraction of what I think we'll do.
Quinn: DQ you mentioned Jayden's readiness yes specifically kind of year one year two now year three what really stands out to you about Jayden and his this upcoming season up why you think he's so ready?
Quinn: Yeah I feel his command in a lot of ways you've always felt Jayden's presence playmaking ability and like being on the defensive side against him in practice it's incredibly difficult you know he gets outside the pocket he can use the legs he can throw on the run but I would say the decisiveness that he has the location that he puts the ball in for the receivers he makes it incredibly difficult you know to go again so having all the extra time with the receivers a tight ends like you see those dividends paying forward so it's been excellent for him new system but his call his command his ability to get in and out of things it's impressive.
Unknown: AP this one's for you just simply judging by the tenor and the tone from the fan base over the past week there's certainly some worry there my question to you is what gives you hope that you know everything's gonna be alright basically with this team the structure going forward?
Unknown: Yeah I mean I have a ton of confidence in this team have a ton of confidence in the coaching staff and in DQ alluded to it we haven't done a whole lot you know in terms of showing what we're gonna be doing bless you offensively and defensively and there's been a lot of times where we haven't had our players out there you know whether it's been in the games or even at practice so you know I look back to you know how we how we did against the Dolphins and just seeing when we had the the full arsenal players up front offensively defensively to seeing what we're capable of and very confident in that and added like like DQ just talked about with Jaden how he's where he's at and what he's gonna be and having him back you know just the overall you know character of the men in that room and the and the coaching level of coaching that we have I'm very confident and you know you know I think obviously your fans are passionate and you love to have passionate fans and and that's great but you know there's a lot of stuff that we're doing here that you know maybe they don't see and there's a lot of things that I'm really excited to see in a couple of weeks we couldn't be more thrilled than to start our season when we're starting it and it's gonna be a great challenge and we're looking forward to it.
Unknown: Question for Dan you talked about Jaden's readiness over 500 snaps what's the impact that virtually all of those came with it out ala ready it's not ideal obviously JP but I would say Nick being there through the spring in the camp he's not away from our building he's not into it so you don't love it JP but you can only kind of control what you can and so Jaden's response was amen like I'm going to attack it and get into that space so Nick is one of our smartest players so that's a position that you know you rely on that he's making calls where am I setting things and so that's a good piece but yeah I would say it's not a part of that you know why he had so many plays or decisive this but we're excited back to work today I can tell you that.
Unknown: And for APM I'm kind of just curious how do you envision like the role of the practice squad and we see some guys coming back year after year is that a developmental thing is it to have replacement players like what is the role of the practice squad for this organization?
Unknown: Yeah I think it's both of those JP I think one they're an extension of your 53 we look at the 17 on the practice squad as part of the team you know essentially that we have a team of 70 and so within that 17 there's players that are guys that can come up and play right away when you have an injury or when you need somebody to come in and definitely if you're doing something personnel wise it's different so you do bring guys back that that have played in the system that you know have seen them played in games and can help you get you out of the game or two or start for you know an extended period of time and then there's a handful of those guys that maybe aren't ready to quite ready to play just yet and those guys are developmental the guys that you've you know you scouted in college or signed or you saw on other teams and our pro guys have identified on other teams and you really want to work with and help them develop and do a player for you down the road and so yeah it's a mix of both and certainly you know there that's why they allow the the veterans on it now so you can really with with the roster limits and the amount of games we're playing you're gonna have injuries and you need guys ready to step into that role and so we do have a handful of guys that can do that and I've done that and we feel confident those guys and then excited about developing the younger guys a guy like a Jayden Bradley or something that you know did a great job at the local pro day and preseason and we think he has a future in this league so continue to develop him and others like that.
Unknown: Yeah well first I'd say like Julian definitely deserve the shot to go compete for it like that was like first and foremost of being here going through it and so although it may not make that got practice reps as well with Jayden and so we got a chance to see that and evaluate him into that and who he was going against so I understand your question but Nick, Julian, Matt they're all gonna get their looks at it to go and you do have to give a shot to go do it.
Unknown: Yeah I think the thing that you can never predict and you hit that nail on the head Ben is just the injuries right and how can you fortify yourself to have depth through those injuries and you know it's hard it's hard to do that it's hard to have depth at every single position.