Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn has had many messages for his team this season. One shines above all: This team is a brotherhood.
Since becoming Washington’s coach, Quinn has discussed that brotherhood several times, including multiple times in the regular season. Quinn explains how close-knit this team is, which reflects him and his coaching staff.
On Sunday, that brotherhood was put to the test. Washington lost a close 28-27 game to the Pittsburgh Steelers, snapping its three-game winning streak. The Commanders made multiple mistakes throughout the game, preventing them from putting the Steelers away, and Pittsburgh made them pay.
But Washington had one more potential chance to win the game. With three timeouts remaining and the Steelers with the ball close to midfield, the Commanders needed three stops. Quarterback Jayden Daniels would have close to one minute remaining to drive the field and put his team in position to kick a game-winning field goal. Anything’s possible, which we learned two weeks ago with the Hail Mary.
Things were going as planned, as Washington made three straight stops. Pittsburgh came onto the field with a fourth-and-1, presumably to attempt to draw the Commanders offside. It worked. The culprit: Rookie defensive tackle Jer’Zhan “Johnny” Newton.
That allowed the Steelers to kneel on the ball and run out the clock.
Newton was dejected. But in the locker room after the game, teammates had his back.
“Yeah, it’s not, it’s not all on him,” Daniels said of Newton. “That’s what everybody’s gonna see, just that one big play. But it’s not all on him, and we’re all together. No matter what people outside the building are saying, are thinking, man, it doesn’t matter. What matters is what’s in the building and how we love each other, how we support each other. We have each other’s backs.”
The rookie quarterback continues to prove he’s wise beyond his years.
Head coach Dan Quinn echoed a similar message.
“We have so much belief and love for this guy and so it was a hard mistake,” Quinn said. “It was one to learn from, and as it goes, those are hard ones. Like I said, there’s other plays in the game that come up, that one just happened to showcase it more at the end, and for sure this is the type of player that is hurting from it and you’re gonna learn from it.”
Others, such as Austin Ekeler, also spoke on behalf of their young teammate.
Everyone’s message was clear: The loss isn’t on Newton, and everyone has his back and is ready to turn the page.
