Washington Commanders coach Dan Quinn said he’ll consider remaining the defensive playcaller next season, three weeks after taking over those duties for coordinator Joe Whitt Jr.
It would represent a slight change of thinking for a coach who came to Washington saying he wanted to delegate to his assistants more than he had in the past.
“I’m finding a rhythm, so I’m not sure where I’m at on that yet,” Quinn said. “I haven’t discussed or gone down that road too far yet. But yeah, I would say that’s a possibility.”
Another possibility is quarterback Jayden Daniels‘ return for Sunday’s game at Minnesota. He remains sidelined because of a dislocated left — and non-throwing — elbow and has yet to be cleared for contact. Daniels hasn’t played since getting hurt with 7 minutes, 39 seconds left in a 38-14 loss to Seattle in Week 9.
Quinn said the team wants to gauge Daniels’ “functional contact” before clearing him: contact that he uses playing the position, such as stiff-arming a defender. Quinn said he would have a better idea of Daniels’ availability Friday after watching him in practice for three days.
“That’s the step we need to see from him,” Quinn said. “It’s not traditional in the sense of taking a hit.”
Quinn said Daniels “ripped a bunch” of passes today and that he’ll work on the functional contact during practice, both in individual sessions and on the side. Daniels was limited in practice last week. He participated in all throwing drills, making sure to not overextend his elbow too much when attempting a pass.
Daniels also will have a new quarterbacks coach the rest of the season with Tavita Pritchard having been named head coach at Stanford. Quinn said assistant quarterbacks coach David Blough will take over Pritchard’s job for the rest of the regular season, with pass game coordinator Brian Johnson also helping more.
The full-time job will be settled in the offseason, which is also when he’ll decide if he wants to continue as the playcaller. Whitt had been the playcaller since the start of 2024 until Week 11 when Quinn took over.
Washington has played less man coverage the past two weeks — 15 combined snaps after averaging 17 the first 10 weeks. Washington lost both starting defensive ends and its top two corners to season-ending injuries.
For the season, the Commanders’ defense ranks 28th in scoring and 31st in yards. Since the change, it ranks 14th in scoring and 25th in yards.
“I feel much more settled in,” Quinn said. “This week we found a great structure. Joe’s been incredibly supportive to help and assist and we kind of found our rhythm together quickly.”
