Experienced leadership is important in any organization.
So why would it be any different in the NFL? Less experienced players can learn from the knowledge of more experienced players. With the Commanders now losing their last three games, defensive coordinator Joe Whitt was asked about the older players counseling, the younger players through the losing streak.
“You know, not necessarily, just, when we were winning four games in a row, or now that we’ve lost three, it’s the same,” replied Whitt. “You lean on it and the thing that you have to do, and I know you’re going to say this is coach talk, but it’s the way that we live and the fact that you take a win and a loss the same way. You take four wins and four losses the same way. You have to just go back and figure out how you’re going to win the next game?”
When a team is declining in their performance, coaches have to work at assessing the performance and then determining how they are going to change some things to bring about progress.
Whitt then brought up the concept of improving as a defensive unit.
“What do you have to do to improve? There’s good in every loss, and there’s some bad in every win. And so, we have to make sure that we lean on the brotherhood that we have, win or lose and continue to know that everything is in our hands.”
In coaching, there are always things that are under your control and things where you do not have control. Recognizing the difference is always crucial to the success of the team. Washington is 7-5 and can still control their destiny, but another loss this Sunday would result in no longer having complete control and needing the help of other teams.
“We control what we control, and if we handle business, we’ll get the results that we want. If we don’t, all right, we’ll be at home. So, that’s just it.”
