Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn addressed the media following the team's second game of the season to the Atlanta Falcons, 34-27. Here are some of his final thoughts before the team moves on to the Los Angeles Chargers.
-- Quinn started things off with some bad news: Javontae Jean-Baptiste suffered a torn pec during Sunday's game that will "knock him out for a while." Jean-Baptiste is the latest addition to a growing injury list that has plagued the Commanders since Week 2. They were already dealing with the loss of Deatrich Wise Jr., who is lost for the season with a quad injury. Now, the Commanders will have to dip further into their depth to find a replacement up front.
-- In other injury news, Quinn said Jayden Daniels had a good workout on Saturday and that the team would work on his practice schedule in the coming days. Daniels has been dealing with a knee injury over the last two weeks that has kept him sidelined aside from some work in practice. Quinn said Daniels is working hard to get healthy but still has some markers to hit.
-- Quinn added that Terry McLaurin (quad), Noah Brown (groin) and John Bates (groin) are all headed in the right direction in terms of their recovery, although he didn't provide an exact timeline for their return. The same can be said for guard Sam Cosmi, who has been working to come back from an ACL injury that he sustained during last season's playoff run. His window to return is now open, and the team will have a more definitive answer on their next steps on Wednesday.
-- The Commanders had 12 missed tackles against the Falcons, which Quinn said was "too high" of a number, even though they knew going into the game that was one of Bijan Robinson's strengths. Quinn said there's plenty they can do to fix that issue, like working on improving their angles, but the team is not pleased with how it tackled on Sunday.
-- On a positive note, Quinn has been pleased with what he has seen from Luke McCaffrey, saying that he "has a fearless eye to him as a returner." McCaffrey recorded 199 kickoff return yards in yesterday's game -- the most by any NFL player in 2025 and the most by any NFL player since Deebo Samuel Sr. (208) in Week 13 of the 2024 season. His 199 kickoff return yards were the most by a Washington player in a single game since Brandon Banks (213) in Week 8 of the 2010 season.
-- It's been an up-and-down start for the Commanders so far this season, but there are some things Quinn has been happy with through four games. The offense has done a good job of taking care of the ball, minus a fumble and interception from Marcus Mariota. There have been positive signs from the running game, which ranks second in average yards per game and yards per rush. Conversely, he highlighted the lack of takeaways as something that needs to improve going forward, as they just got their first one on Sunday four weeks into the season.
-- The Commanders' pass rush has generally been effective so far this season, but last Sunday's game was a different situation, as Michael Penix Jr. was sacked just one time for six yards. Quinn thought the Falcons did a nice job early of getting rid of the ball quickly, but as the game went on, Penix had more time in the pocket than the Commanders would have liked. He thought the front could have run more stunts to put the offensive line in more disadvantageous situations. They couldn't capitalize on the several chances they had to put pressure on Penix, and that will be something for the group to work on later this week.