‘We have high standards, and we missed them tonight’ – Dan Quinn expresses his disappointment in the Commanders’ blowout preseason loss
Dan Quinn didn’t hold back on his disappointment in the team’s efforts
This is certainly not the way the Washington Commanders wanted to start the season off, and HC Dan Quinn didn’t hold back his thoughts after the blowout loss to the New England Patriots.
Of course, the score and record don’t matter in the preseason, but a lot of what we saw from the team last night was disappointing and uncharacteristic of this Commanders team.
The Commanders’ high standards
Last year, this team was known as a locker room team that played on fire every single week, and always brought the energy. The first preseason game looked nothing like what we’re used to with this team, and they need to be revamped moving forward. Quinn said after the game just how frustrating the results and efforts were in the team’s first showing.
“We have high standards, and we missed them tonight,” Quinn told the media. “All three phases, I thought it was sloppy tonight. We had 13 penalties, and in different varieties you know, pre-snap, 12 in a huddle, illegal formation. We had two holdings, I believe on a kickoff return, and OPI, they stacked, and that showed sloppiness to me.”
Quinn is right about the sloppiness from the team. Having 13 penalties for 98 yards is inexcusable, even if it is a preseason game. This team shouldn’t lack any discipline. He also said that the team will rewatch everything, and every single mistake will be a learning experience. Quinn doesn’t avoid mistakes and misses the opportunity to learn from them before moving forward.
This team didn’t seem ready to play
The one thing that really surprised me was the lack of effort and physicality from the team and it started when the opening kickoff got returned for a touchdown by rookie TreVeyon Henderson. The Patriots were the more physical team from start to finish, and the Commanders looked like they were ready to go home. There were a few flash plays like Jeremy Reaves laying the hammer on a hit that was called for a penalty (soft call), but nothing else stuck out to me.
Quinn himself was just as surprised by what he saw and the undiscipline, and said this was the complete opposite of what they’d seen in practices.
“This is going to sound so unusual,” Quinn added. “In the practice, it was almost just the opposite. . .The pre-snap ones, that’s a lack of focus, and those are the ones that irritate me, and, you know, drive me up a wall. So those are some of the things I talked about, standards that I expect to be improved in these 10 days.”
He’s right, though, they have 10 days to figure things out before the next preseason game at home against the Cincinnati Bengals, and we already know Quinn will ramp up practices this week.