Dan Quinn reveals Commanders’ plans in Week 18 season finale against the Eagles, but it might not be the right move
The Commanders won’t be sitting out their starters that can play against the Eagles, but Dan Quinn also needs to play some of their younger players, finally.
The Washington Commanders only have one game left on the season, but they have to make the most of it before heading into the offseason.
The Commanders are hitting the road to take on the Philadelphia Eagles in a chippy rematch, and there’s still plenty to watch for. The Eagles are playing for seeding in the playoffs, even though they might be resting some starters. Meanwhile, the Commanders need to see who wants to be here next season, and which younger pieces are worth building around.
Dan Quinn knows every game counts, and he has no plans to rest any starters who can play. We will have to see what that means for the younger players, who should be playing as much as possible.
Dan Quinn expects to play all starters who can play against the Eagles
This might be a pointless game for many people, but it isn’t for the team. They’re still playing to win, regardless of the situation, and they need to head into the offseason with some kind of positive. A lot of teams around the league could be resting starters for different reasons, but Quinn expects to play everyone like normal when he was asked about holding players out.
“It hasn’t come up with us; it’s not something we’re considering,” Quinn said. “Health definitely factors in with all the guys, you know, that. But if the guys are healthy and they can play and do the things they need to, then that would be one. But it definitely factors in, but not on the healthy players.”
We don’t know if veterans with injuries like Laremy Tunsil or Marcus Mariota will play or not, but this means we could still see Bobby Wagner taking 100% of snaps again, and younger players having limited roles in the season finale still.
The Commanders need to play as many young players as possible
The best-case scenario for the Commanders, besides winning the actual game, is seeing young players flash in the season finale. We’ve seen too many young players like Quan Martin and Mike Sainristil regress all season, so somebody needs to show development. It would be smart to play Johnny Newton as much as possible after having his best game last week, and the same for Jordan Magee, who should play over Wagner more.
There’s no point in playing veterans who won’t be on the team next year over younger players who need the in-game reps and development. Hopefully, Quinn will do the right thing and give players like Kain Medrano and Ricky Barber a chance to actually show what they can do.
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