Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn addressed the media before the team's joint practice with the Miami Dolphins. Here is a full transcript of the press conference.
Opening Statement:
"All right, what's up everybody. Good to see you guys here. It's really cool to be here in Miami and to work with [Dolphins Head Coach Mike McDaniel] Mike and his team. I love Mike and we stayed connected through the years. His creativity, innovativeness is there. I can remember years back after seeing when he was in San Francisco, talking to him about [San Francisco 49ers WR] Deebo Samuel, he was in the backfield and he wasn't just running wide receiver plays. They were real tracks and real runs and so I'd asked him, I was in Dallas time, we had a player that was going to play two positions, and how do you prepare somebody into that space? When we were together in Atlanta, his wide receiver profile tape was as detailed as you could ever imagine. So, I got lots of love for Mike and for him. It's cool to have our teams go into battle today. All that said, lots to cover, so let's get it rocking with you guys."
On when he knew Dolphins Head Coach Mike McDaniel could become a head coach:
"We worked together in 2015 and 16 and he just had this great balance between the run game, the passing game, and he had this vision of how you saw both of them together. So, as you guys know, the best part of like play action pass is making the run game and the play pass look so similar, this formation, this look, this identity. And so, he just had this really cool way of teaching and anybody who spent time with him knew this was a rare person in the way that he could explain things and make it easy to follow. Because I think the best of the best make the complex seem simple. And Mike was really good at that."
On if McDaniel's personality has always been the same:
"Yeah, and Mike's always been a big thinker and so there's sometimes you'd see like clouds that would pop over somebody's head, like if it was a cartoon, 'What's going on up there?' And it would take a minute and then you'd hear some answer. You're like, that's exactly right. And so, you knew he had just special traits and that was probably from the first time that I had a big interaction. We were doing profile tapes when we all got together in 2015 about traits for the position. And the one that he did specifically on wide receivers was just remarkable. I learned early on that he had special traits to him."
On McDaniel's comments yesterday about not being where he is today without him:
"Well, I think all of us need teammates and so that was nothing different than just trying to be a good teammate. Mike did the work, but all of us have had spots that we need people to support us and I was glad to step into that gap to help support him and his family when he needed it. And I know he would do the same in return."
On what kind of test the Dolphins present today:
"No, it's a great question because in the preseason you actually want to put people into the hardest looks and the hardest matchup. So, there's times you'll want to do some things just to put some stress onto a call or to a person in a coverage or whatever that might look like. And so to see the different elements offensively, defensively on teams, I think it's a great test and these are at practice perfect times to do that and play man-to-man coverage, play a zero blitz look, play things that maybe you wouldn't normally do, just to really emphasize the stress and the evaluation of that play or that player. So, I am really in favor of these practices. I think they make a lot of sense, and having to do it one day, then the day off and then the practice, it really times up well. You'll see some players get a lot of reps today and then not many in the game, and then some very few today and get a lot in the game. Also, there's a good selling point for that for the player that's going to get few today, Saturday's coming and you get a chance not only to perform for our team, but potentially for 31 others to show what you can do. I think there's a lot of value in that."
On the signing of QB Trace McSorley and on an update for QB Sam Hartman:
"Sure. So why don't we start with the injury wise with Sam. So, not able to play in this weekend's game. [QB] Marcus [Mariota] also had an injury of a groin. It's not long. I think if this was probably in the regular season, this would be a guy who would want to go through that. That's not the correct decision at this time for him. So, with both quarterbacks who will be down for the game, we thought it best to add to that. We're fortunate that Trace was available and flew in last night and physical this morning, so, let's go. But he'll build in some plays. As we get to the game, there would be some ones that he'd feel comfortable with. So that's where we're at there."
On if they expect WR Martavis Bryant to see the field Saturday:
"We do. We will see where we can and it's much like Trace, to say what plays can we do? The easy thing there is as you're getting to it, say these are the handful of plays that you'd feel comfortable calling with he and Trace in and that way they can perform fast too because that's important for us. We're not going to put a guy out there that's not ready to compete and perform. If the package can be learned by Saturday in a very small amount, then we'd be willing to do that for sure."
On Offensive Coordinator Kliff Kingsbury's command of the offensive plays and on if he has offensive input:
"Well, we're almost done the install portion of that. We have two more, both sides of the ball when we get back to Ashburn. So, next week a little more, a little more, then we'll have gone through kind of the entire install. Then now, that starts to tighten up, okay, what's specific that we want to go and carry and use over and over. [Kingsbury's] done a good job of going all the way through the process. Like we said, we have still two more sessions to go where we're going to install some new things. Then after that you don't want to install a lot of new things. It's about the execution of doing over and over again. But he and the staff have done a really good job, the run game, the passing game, the play pass, obviously seeing some of that at practice there's some hard concepts to defend, but ultimately it comes down to what the guys do best. And that's really from [TE Zach Ertz] Zach to the runners, to the quarterbacks to the receivers. And that's really to me where the secret sauce is, not just here's the playbook and you have to know it. It's finding the right plays, and also there's some plays that are specific for just a player. If it's a one that you need a tight end to split out and use the speed to go, then that's one that we can feature Zach. Does that make sense? Where it's different guys to use in different ways. So, he has a very, very strong understanding of that."
On the WR #2 search:
"I would say we are right in the middle of it. And so, you'll see a lot of guys in today. You'll see 2, 3, 4, 5. There's a lot of guys that are really battling. I've been really impressed with [WR] Olamide [Zaccheaus] and I thought he's had a really strong camp. I'm looking forward to getting [WR] Luke [McCaffrey] some extra work into here, [WR] Jahan [Dotson], [WR] Dyami [Brown]. So that's where we're at and then the special teams is gonna have a factor in that as well."
On if WR Jahan Dotson will play a similar number of snaps as last week against the New York Jets:
"Probably. Yep, I would say, I don't know if it'll be the exact same, but it'll be in the similar space. Same high volumes on the other guys that I listed as well."
On what he wants to see from Dotson: "Yeah, I think with all the guys that we were talking about at that spot, the urgency, the run game, the pass game. So, the quickness in and out of breaks, so not everybody plays the same spot, Nikki, but I do wanna see with he and with all the other guys really finding some really competitive moments that plays after the catch the blocks at the point of attack. Sometimes even in man to man during this phase of evaluation, did he beat the person even though the ball didn't go to that spot? So, I'm really trying to evaluate them with and without the ball."
On if he expects everybody, including the veteran players, to go in against the Dolphins: "Oh, they'll get a lot in today, but it'll be limited for the same kind of the group that you saw, with the exception of [RT Andrew] Wylie is doing well practicing today, he'll get some reps in. So that'll be a big piece. And [TE Zach] Ertz won't play in the game and he's not here at practice today."
On if TE Zach Ertz being out of practice is injury-related:
"It is not injury related. It's for an excellent reason."
On if the veteran offensive players being out affects how much QB Jayden Daniels is played:
"Oh, I'm sorry, I misunderstood. No, I think you'll see more today, Ben, and that's kind of by design to say, can we push more here and less Saturday? It's hard to, you can't go both, you know, so by having these, it's you don't get a, you know, where I can just go and go. So that's the advantage of you have to really make a decision. And so knowing I also talked to [Miami Dolphins Head Coach] Mike [McDaniel] too, who's gonna play for them in the game versus here, and so he'll play more here. And so that's important."
On if the better weather conditions will help Daniels show his potential more:
"What I like about the end of the practice is that's when we do a two minute. So, all four offenses so to speak, get one set so their offense will get two, our offense get two. That to me is a really good one. I love the red zone work that we can get specific to do those. So, I'd say those two spots, the red zone work and the two minute at the end of the game, Ben, those are ones that really if you were to mark down a couple ones that you wanna stand out, those are, there's some. But, all of it's good and I, like I said, I really enjoy these practices cause you get different looks, nothing scripted in that way. So, it's nice to see it."
On what he wants to see from the players still competing for spots on the team:
"Yeah, and there's a lot of those spots and that's what's kind of fun about what the next two weeks can represent to say, last night for instance, I asked left some space, say, 'Where are you at with your game?' And just kind of let that settle and say, 'All right, now that we're here, what'd you like from last Thursday and last Saturday? And what do you want to get done? What do you wanna see more of today and into Saturday?' And so, all of us have those things, coaches included and so I wanna make sure that coming into here intentional about what you're trying to improve upon because there's a lot of spots that were really right in the thick of it. And so that's why moments like today and Saturday and into next week, they really matter because it may be the fourth and fifth corner, this returner, swing tackle, third or fourth running back, all of these spots. There's still so much to put into the table. And so that's why performing at a practice here is big and we put guys in really tough spots in the practice to see how they're gonna respond. So, although it's not a game, sometimes the practice in some ways can be even more difficult because we're calling plays to say, 'Let's test this person and see what it looks like'."
On getting the defense to create more takeaways:
"Yeah, it's important and I think it's every day talking about it, thinking about it. At the spot in practice you have to, is this one I can go take a shot on or do I have to stay on top of? And so having the discipline to do that over and over again, it's something that you need to work on. And so for me, the tackling and the ball hawking defensively is a big piece just like breaking tackles and ball secure on offense. So those two things are always kind of at the front of my thinking and lots of examples that I showed to the team, they come from those two topics a lot."
On his thoughts of the safety room:
"Yeah, I think it's a strong room, Ben. I really do because tight end is that way as well, where there's just a group of guys that are really battling for it. And so that's, you know, how does it factor into special teams and different rotations and so we'll use a lot of safeties and different sets. Sometimes there's three safety, sometimes there could be four depending on the package. But, by and large I've been pleased with the group, not you're trying to find 'Okay, who can play more middle of the field, who can play down and cover a tight end?' So not safety as a general spot, but the individual spots of it. But it has been a group that I've been really pleased with."
