Tag: Analyst Brian Mitchell

Commanders to distribute burgundy towels to Washington fans

The Commanders have a plan for the “terrible towels.”

Former Washington Redskins head coach Otto Graham was credited with saying, “Don’t throw in the towel, use it for wiping the sweat off of your face.”

Sunday’s battle between the 6-2 Steelers and the home team Commanders (7-2) looks to be a tough contest. The Commanders have yet to face a defense as good as the Steelers, and the Steelers’ defense has yet to face an offense as efficient as Washington’s.

Speaking of towels, the Steelers have been known for some years to have their fans show up in attendance with their gold towels to wave during the game, exhibiting their support for the Steelers (black and gold).

Meanwhile, the burgundy and gold commanders have apparently determined that they will distribute a burgundy towel to the Commanders’ fans.

Former Redskins running back Brian Mitchell (1990-99), now an employee of 106.7 The Fan in Washington, evidently was the originator of the idea, calling upon the organization to supply burgundy towels to create some more home-team atmosphere at Northwest Stadium, Sunday.

“I need whoever the powers that be — I need you all to get burgundy towels to every fan coming into the stadium,” Mitchell said, underscoring the need to keep the Commanders’ presence strong. “We know the Steelers are going to come with their yellow, so we’re going to mix them together. It’s going to be burgundy and gold all through the stadium.”

On Wednesday, the Commanders emailed fans announcing the towel giveaway with an exciting message: “These giveaways steel the show! We’ll be handing out limited-edition rally towels and Salute to Service hats presented by Verizon this Sunday for our game against the Steelers. Let’s Command Our House and create a home-field advantage by packing Northwest Stadium with burgundy.” (Fox 5 D.C.).

What everyone said after the Commanders’ Week 4 win vs. Cardinals

A collection of postgame quotes after the Commanders’ 42-14 win.

On Sunday, the Washington Commanders defeated the Arizona Cardinals, 42-14 to improve to 3-1. Here is a collection of postgame quotes from players, former players/analysts, and coaches.

“This team is still going to get better, and they are led by the right man as a coach and the right guy as a quarterback.”  Brian Mitchell

“It’s great to see the team go out there and not only win but win in the fashion they are winning in. They are playing a complete game; it’s great to see that.”  Santana Moss

“You watch Brian (Robinson) out there, he runs violently. Guys were hitting him, and he was driving them back four yards, and they got up talking trash. I’m like, ‘Fool, you just got run over.'”  Brian Mitchell

“We talked about it coming into the season; I said this is B-Rob’s year. I love seeing what I am seeing.”  Santana Moss

“Tonight, I really thought it was cool to see Burgundy and Gold in the crowd…I felt their presence, and it was really cool.”  Dan Quinn

“A quick shout out to the big guys. To have a big rushing performance with over 200 yards and no sacks. That is a big guy’s kind of day.” Dan Quinn

“We’ve established that different guys in different roles and they have come through. O.Z (Zaccheaus) really had some big pickups today.”  Dan Quinn

“You got to nail the moments when they are there…got to tip my hat to Joe (Whitton) and the staff where it’s been a hard few weeks for them. I told them they were closer than they thought. (The defense getting some very good 3rd down stops.)  Dan Quinn

“Keep him in there, don’t let him roll to the right, and that is what we did. Take his throwing ability away when he is trying to scramble.”  Dorance Armstrong on defending/rushing Kyler Murray

“We still have room to grow. We are not a finished product at all.” Jayden Daniels on the offensive success

“Those guys do a good job of getting open, knowing the timing and depth of the routes, so it’s awesome working with them.”  Jayden Daniels on Commanders’ receivers group

“You don’t want to throw a pic at all. But, that’s football, things happen. You are going to have a pic, have a turnover, but how can you bounce back, limit those, and keep moving forward?’  Jayden Davis on throwing his first interception.

“Obviously, it’s early in the season, so we’ll have to finish the year. I can’t put anything on it. But I know teams look at us and say, “Hey, those guys play hard. It’s always good to go back home with a win. Now, we are on to the Browns.”  Jayden Daniels

Exiting the field, entering the tunnel, “You like that!”  Cornelius Lucas

“For a rookie quarterback, does the guy ever make a bad decision? It’s unbelievable. Every ball is on the money.”  Chris Simms, NBC SNF

The Commanders return home to face the Cleveland Browns in Week 5.

What everyone said after the Commanders’ Week 3 win vs. Bengals

What everyone was saying after the Commanders’ win over the Bengals.

Monday, the Washington Commanders defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 38-33 in Cincinnati, as Jayden Daniels completed 91% of his passes.

Here are some selected postgame quotes regarding the Commanders’ exciting win.

“A lot of guys say things in the NFL. I don’t think we took it personal in the sense that we gotta go prove these guys wrong. You know, probably Kliff felt some type of way. I know DQ might have mentioned it a little bit. You want to have your coaches’ back. You want to have your teammates’ back.” Terry McLaurin on Cam Taylor-Britt’s “a nice college offense” comment last week.

“I don’t regret it,” Taylor-Britt said. “I didn’t mean anything malicious out of the comment. It was made bigger than it was. Yes, I can eat my words, most definitely. We did take an L today.”  Cam Taylor-Britt last said.

“For us to come out here and win a game that probably a lot of people didn’t have us winning, that says a lot about our resiliency and what we are building here.”  Terry McLaurin

“I advocated for the Chicago Bears to hire BOTH Dan Quinn and Kliff Kingsbury this past offseason. That’s what I’m pissed about.” Ryan Woodall, writer Bears Nation Chicago

“Listen to me. We have a quarterback. That young man can play, and we have a kicker too.” Brian Mitchell

“The guys came out here and fought hard. Monday Night Football, prime time, prime time players. Honestly, I’m ecstatic about the vibe, the feeling of seeing these guys come out here, I heard so many people doubting them. They got the W.”  Santana Moss

“He’s a really cool customer. There’s a real poise about him…His ability when to, when not to use his legs. We’ve seen a lot of this in practice. Now it’s carrying over into the games.”  Dan Quinn on Jayden Daniels

“I thought Kliff (Kingsbury) called a great game. All week, all the different looks we would have to go through, especially as we got down into the red zone. We knew the third down and red zone would be a really big part of this. He and the staff had a real clear understanding of what we would have to do.” Dan Quinn

“I think I probably got more sleep today than I have the last couple of months. I was feeling excited, locked and loaded.” Luke McCaffrey

“It’s awesome to see the maturity, the poise he has in the huddle, in the moment, in every single opportunity. He is just calm, ready, prepared. It is just awesome.” Luke McCaffrey on Jayden Daniels

“It was time for him (Terry McLaurin) to make those plays. It wasn’t happening for me, so you know 17 was going to step up and make a play. I am happy to see him get involved. Like I said, for me it was a ground and pound night. I am just happy to get the win.” Brian Robinson Jr.

“I went up during the timeout and to Kliff and said, ‘Give me a go route to the boundary for the game. I went up to Kliff and Jayden and said throw me this ball for the game. For them to have that kind of trust in me, I think that’s maybe one of the first times in my career, the game is on the line, I got to call the play and we executed it at a very high level.”  Terry McLaurin

“Terry said, trust me, and, that’s what we did, I trusted him.” Jayden Daniels

“We are going to face some adversity. It is not going to be smooth sailing from the jump. There are going to be ups and downs. But, stay even keel, keep working, keep improving.”  Jayden Daniels

Postgame quotes after Commanders’ disappointing loss to Bucs

Several postgame quotes after the Commanders’ loss to the Bucs.

Sunday’s Commanders’ 37-20 loss was disappointing and worse than the score. Here are some postgame quotes:

“You need to struggle to see the identity develop. You don’t want it. But you need it. That happened tonight.” Dan Quinn

“I’m a hard grader. We didn’t win.”  Jayden Daniels

“If the Dotson trade wasn’t enough of a reminder, this Commanders team was real bad last year and has serious work to do before they’re competitive again. Management knows this. There are definite questions/problems from this game, but talent-wise, they’re years behind.”  JP Finlay of NBC Washington.

“The guys here believe in him because of the work he has put in. They love this guy, what he stands for as a competitor, as a teammate…” Dan Quinn on Jayden Daniels

Cade York missed two field goals and errantly kicked off once out of bounds. Quinn was asked postgame if this meant there would be kicker tryouts. “We’ll have a good talk about that and see where we’re at.”  Dan Quinn

“You can’t expect him to go out there and do everything right. He is a rookie. He is still learning how to play the NFL game. But I think today he passed. He gets another chance to go next week and begin to take another step forward.” Brian Mitchell on Jayden Daniels

“I think third down, if I had to look back on it right now, that was the biggest and certainly the story of the game. So, a lot to work on. Tampa was the better team today.”  Dan Quinn

“You need to struggle to see the identity develop. You don’t want it. But you do need it. That part is hard, and that struggle happened tonight. We’ll take these lessons and we will work on them.” Dan Quinn

“I missed Terry (McLaurin). That is one I wish I could have back. But, it is a long season. We’re going to hit a couple of those. But Tampa did a good job with their scheme.” Jayden Daniels

“You have to crawl before you walk. This team had to show us something. They showed it today, and they go from there, watch themselves on film, and come out with a better solution next time.”  Santana Moss

No, they are not where we want them to be. But you know what? Nothing ever starts out where you want it to be. You have to work towards it, and I believe they will put in the work.” Brian Mitchell

“I’m sure a lot of people are down on us after this game…But I don’t think anyone is panicking. The only thing this means is we’re not going undefeated. The [1972] Miami Dolphins are safe from us…. We have to keep getting better.”  TE Zach Ertz

 

 

Commanders’ postgame quotes following loss to 49ers

Ron Rivera, Jonathan Allen, Terry McLaurin, Sam Howell, Brian Mitchell and others comment on Commanders’ loss to 49ers.

“Early on, it looked like we were going to make this game into a match. But as they game went on, you saw they clearly had too much for us. And I say it all the time, you can’t help a team beat you.” Brian Mitchell

“I thought the defense did a lot of good things today. But they’re a more talented roster, they’ve got playmakers at all spots, their defense played excellent and obviously Sam has been struggling a little bit.” Logan Paulsen

“Ultimately, I think he handled himself well coming into this game. But as that game went on, you saw the pressure of the 49ers was just too much. And your guy can’t go out there and get it done by himself.” Brian Mitchell

“Sam did some good things. But I think we are starting to see who he is as a player. Not to say that he can’t get better. But I think this is what our expectation for Sam should be the rest of this season.” Logan Paulsen

“Jacoby was still tight. So we had to be careful with it (hamstring). That was why we went with Sam.” Ron Rivera

“I thought Sam had some really good moments…the situation gave him an opportunity, and he performed, he really did. I thought he made some good decisions, threw some really good balls. Obviously, there were a couple of throws I promise he wished he had back, but he did a lot of good things.” Ron Rivera

“Obviously, an interesting week. Wasn’t expecting until two hours before the game to have to play today, but…..every single opportunity I get, I try to go out there and give it my all and make the most of it.”  Sam Howell

“Honestly, I couldn’t care less. I’m focused on what I’m doing to help this team. I’m going to go out there and play hard, enjoy it, play for the love of the game, and that’s what I did today.” Jonathan Allen on the uncertainty of who was going to play at quarterback

“I give credit to him because it hasn’t been an easy season for him. And obviously, he’s going to get a lot of the blame and things like that. I think we all have a hand in it — the coaches, players. It’s been tough, but the way he came out in the first half, it showed resiliency. You could see a smile on his face. That made me happy because it’s a tough game, especially at that position. So I think he handled it as best as he could.”  Terry McLaurin on Sam Howell

“It’s definitely tough. I mean, you want to be a part of something that is sustainable, and you’re winning and competing at a high level.”  Terry McLaurin

“When you’re going against teams like that, you got to play — not perfect, but you got to make the most of every opportunity. You got to give them credit for building that team and for the players going out there and executing. Hopefully, I can be a part of something like that, but I’m just focused on myself, my world, and my journey, and I’m going to keep working to be the best player I can be.”  Terry McLaurin

Postgame quotes following Commanders’ inexcusable loss to Giants

Brian Mitchell preaches for everyone to have patience with Sam Howell. BMitch believes Howell has what it takes to be a franchise QB.

Another ugly, embarrassing, inexcusable loss to the Giants, so what were some saying during the postgame interviews and postgame show?

“Sam Howell has the potential to be a d— good quarterback in this league. He can be a franchise quarterback. But everybody out there, pump your d— breaks and allow him to get to that point. We can’t look at only one game and already put him up there. Let the man grow. He is a young guy who has to learn. Peyton Manning had games like this early on.” Brian Mitchell

“Any offensive coach, any offensive player will tell you, you can not turn the football over that many times and reasonably expect to win a football game.” Logan Paulsen

“He’s (Sam Howell) learning, he’s growing. He made some mistakes, but he hung in there, he fought and gave us a chance to win the football game.”  Ron Rivera

“When you turn the ball over that many times, you are not going to win games. It starts with me. I have to do a better job of taking care of the football. I didn’t give my team a chance to win today.” Sam Howell

“It is a low point, that’s for sure,” Rivera said. “Any time you’ve got an opportunity to win a football game and you put the numbers up that you did, you got to come through.”     Ron Rivera

“No matter what my answer is, it’s going to come out and people are going to say it’s an excuse. So we’re just going to take the responsibility. We’re going to show up tomorrow, we’re going to get prepared, and we’re going to get ready to play Dallas, because we got a very short week.”  Ron Rivera

“I think the most frustrating part is that I think we have a really good football team. We have so much potential in that locker room. That’s the disappointing thing, is that we’re not we’re not getting the results that we feel like we were definitely capable of.” Sam Howell

“I am not the type to point the fingers, but at the same time, each guy has to figure out how he can affect this team in a positive way to help us win. If you are not, then this is probably not the place for you. At the same time, I am going to continue to work and be ready for my opportunity. I just try to stay ready and be positive, and try to be part of the solution.”  Terry McLaurin

“It’s kind of been the theme of the season — we’ll play really good, and then we’ll have four- or five-minute lapses in a game that allow for big plays in the game. Until we clean that up, we’ll never be the defense that we can be.” Jonathan Allen

“I would say learning how to win; when you look at teams around the league who are consistently successful, they know how to win different types of games. In order to win ugly, in order to win offensive and defensive games, special teams. And so for us, we just have to learn how to win in different ways.” Jonathan Allen

Postgame quotes after Commanders perplexing loss to Eagles

Some postgame quotes from several Washington players after Sunday’s loss to the Eagles.

This Commanders’ loss to the Eagles was perplexing as the offense produced, but the defense could not get to a visibly hobbled Jalen Hurts.

What was the reaction in the locker room and the postgame shows?

“When you look at a game: Your kicker kicks a 61-yard field goal. You score 31 points. And you lose? That is one you don’t understand.” Brian Mitchell

“Ultimately, when you look at the game, it is not a matter of we didn’t run or pass enough. No, we didn’t make the plays.” Brian Mitchell

“They moved some pieces along the offensive line. I thought Tyler Larsen did an excellent job calling protections- no free runners to the quarterback. I thought Sam also helped that group, getting the ball out of his hand quickly…and I think EB called a fantastic football game today. So I think there are positive things.” Logan Paulsen

“They told me New York decided it was an incompletion.” Ron Rivera on the Jahan Dotson 4th down incompletion

“Because I didn’t see it on the screen. I was looking up at the screen to see if there was something that could help me and then I was waiting to hear something from somebody upstairs (did you see it or not?). We haven’t seen the replay yet. So we weren’t sure. They did their hurry up, ran to the line and snapped the ball…I still don’t know if it was or wasn’t complete.” Ron Rivera on not challenging the Eagles 4th down completion for a first down that was actually incomplete.

“I’m not going to answer any questions on personnel.” Ron Rivera declining to talk trade deadline

“I mean, it’s in the air, but in the end, we have a game to play, a job to do. I intend on doing that job to the best of my ability.”  Montez Sweat on current trade talks

“Anything can happen, but I can only control what I can.” Montez Sweat conveyed that his agent is keeping him informed

“My job is to play football, and that is what I am going to continue to do. It’s tough. I don’t have nothing to say; it’s tough.” Chase Young on close loss

“It’s out of my control. I’m going to go back and evaluate myself, see where I made mistakes and hold myself accountable.” Chase Young on if he or Montez Sweat played their last game together.

“We’re right there. But at the end of the day we let another one slip away from us.” Sam Howell on another tough loss

“I told him (Terry McLaurin) that I have to give him a better chance. … I’ve got to make his job easier. Terry’s a great player, and I have to do my part.”  Sam Howell on those two late drops by Terry McLaurin

Commanders postgame quotes after Week 4 overtime loss

Some quotes from Ron Rivera, Sam Howell and former players covering the team.

Washington went to Philadelphia, and scored on the last play of regulation but later fell 34-31 in overtime to the Eagles.

Here are some post-game quotes.

“Oh my gosh! It was such a good football game. I loved the composure the resiliency of the football team. This is who the team is. To have this kind of character, to be able to put that drive together at the end (of regulation), was a fantastic job. Even though it is a loss, there are a lot of exciting things I think this team can build on moving forward.” Logan Paulsen

“I’m not big on moral victories, but our team should hold their head up and feel great about their performance, knowing they can go out there and compete with anybody.” Santana Moss

“There were moments they were playing outstanding football. Then you look at moments, and they seemed a little lost. You have to play a whole football game. We cannot sleep-walk through a football game.” Brian Mitchell

“That third quarter was where our Achilles Heel was at (today).” Santana Moss

“I believe this team can play…Then that third quarter…they slept through the third quarter.” Brian Mitchell

“First of all, it was a hell of a performance by Sam… (he) bounced back. He learned from last week. He grew. It was reflected in the way he played, in the way he led our offense. There are a lot of positive things we are going to take from that.”  Ron Rivera on Sam Howell.

“I don’t believe in moral victories. We lost a game we felt we should have won.”  Sam Howell

“That’s a Hell of a football team we played out there. But I think we have a Hell of a football team in this locker room.” Ron Rivera

“Yes, it’s a tough loss for us. Definitely a game we felt like we should have won, we were capable of winning. But I am proud of the guys how we fought until the end.” Sam Howell

“Our guys came and played their asses off. They deserve some credit. We are going to learn something from this.” Ron Rivera

“I think I did some good things out there. But at the end of the day, we didn’t win. It’s my job to win football games for this organization, and we didn’t do that today.” Sam Howell

“They (Eagles) picked on the young guy today (Emmanuel Forbes).  I expect him to bounce back next week. Hopefully, he learns. Experience is a tough teacher. But that is the kind of stuff he needs. He needs to understand how important it is to do his job the way it is being coached.”  Ron Rivera

 

Commanders postgame quotes after Week 3 37-3 loss

Some comments from the players, coaches and former players after the loss.

What do you say after getting beat 37-3? Here are some postgame quotes.

“You cannot make the mistakes we made. You got to be able to go out there and not make those mistakes. Turnover battle, we lost it, and you don’t win when you lose it.” Washington legend Brian Mitchell

“There are a lot of things that can be learned and gleaned from this game. A lot of people are going to say this is the worst thing, so flush it and move on. No! You have to sit with this for a little bit. Learn what is going on. They played a lot of Cover 2, light box structures. Can we be more effective running the football? Can we be more patient as a play-caller?”  Logan Paulsen

“Buffalo was not that good today. It was Washington that was that bad today.”  Brian Mitchell

“We are talking about Sam Howell right now, but this is a good learning experience for EB (Eric Bieniemy). When it is 13-0 we don’t need to be going crazy. We can be more conservative with our play calling and our approach. There were times they were rushing and pressing.”  Logan Paulsen

“You got to learn from it; that is how it is going to get corrected. If you don’t learn from it, it is going to happen again.” Ron Rivera

“This is football. You got to learn from the losses as well as from the wins.” Ron Rivera

“How are we going to react? How are we going to handle it? Now, we have to find out just how tough we really are. Are we mentally tough? Are we physically tough enough to get through it?” Ron Rivera

“When you are winning, it masks a lot of things. The bare truth is out there now. We know, based on the tape, exactly what happened. We will be able to sit down and talk and get it corrected, I believe. If we approach it the right way, we give ourselves the opportunity going forward. That’s what we are going to find out, just how good we are, how tough we are.” Ron Rivera

“A lot of things didn’t go right today, and it starts with me. The good thing is the sun will come up tomorrow, another opportunity to get better and go to work.” Sam Howell

“You can’t flush it. You watch the film, and you learn from it.” Sam Howell

“I got to be better. It’s on me.” Sam Howell

“It’s heartbreaking when you get to the two-yard line, and you don’t quite get it in. That’s on all 11 guys not executing, making sure we score seven points. Because that game was still in reach at that moment.” Terry McLaurin