Tag: john keim

What everyone said after the Commanders’ loss to Cowboys

Here’s what everyone said after Commanders’ loss to Cowboys.

The Commanders were again outscored in the fourth quarter and lost their third consecutive game, Sunday, when they fell to the Dallas Cowboys 34-26 at Northwest Stadium.

Here is a collection of post-game quotes from players, analysts, coaches, and media personalities.

Dan Quinn

“What I told the team after the game was that this is the most challenged we’ve been in our time together. And I reminded them, it’s not enough to learn the lessons, but we have to apply them.”

“I remind them it’s never about one play. And so, that execution falls on all of us players and coaches, and I firmly believe that. And so, we’ll get to it tomorrow. We’ll look at the tape and get right to the truth of it all.”

“Yeah, I want to make sure like this confidence is rolling whoever we’re playing. And I don’t want it to go up and down and up and down. So again, I look back at the tape and the best part of this is you get to go dig in and go forward again, man. But from a performance side, is there plenty to clean up on? You bet. And you don’t want to miss an opportunity and when you got a home game and going forward in the division, you want to take advantage of those. And when you miss them, it stings.”

Jayden Daniels

“We’ve been in third and longer a lot, you know, these past couple games. So, that’s kind of where you get into the exotic pressures and stuff like that. You know, we’ve just gotta be better on first and second downs and stay ahead of the chains.”

Chris Russell (Team 980)

“I fully expected the #Commanders to win this game & begrudgingly picked them -10.5 on Friday. As I kept mentioning – the notion they were going to cruise over these next few weeks (Dallas, Tennessee & New Orleans) was laughable. It’s a potential nightmare now.”
Ben Standig (The Athletic)
“From a team spokesperson: Out of an abundance of caution, Austin Ekeler (concussion) is headed to the hospital for further testing.“
John Keim (ESPN)
“Wow. Just a brutal finish to cap a horrendous performance.“
Bobby Wagner

Jason Garrett (NBC)
“They’ve got to start getting the ball down the field. [Terry] McLaurin has got to get involved in this game earlier. That’s the only way they get this offense going again.”

Austin Seibert

“It didn’t make a difference at all. It’s on me.”
“I felt fine. That’s why I made the decision to play and here we are.”

Tress Way

“This dude is just making freaking kicks all year long so we still have a lot of ball left and making a little playoff run. It’s just really tough. Rinse and repeat and come back and get ready for Tennessee.”

“I would have to…..I’d really like to see the film. They always say the eye in the sky don’t lie but [LS] Tyler [Ott] and I talked after and our job is to make it as seamless as possible for Austin and we just didn’t feel like we quite had it there. Rinse and repeat. Get ready to go again.”

Terry McLaurin

“It doesn’t come down to one play. It doesn’t come down to one kick. We had our opportunities to take control of the game and we didn’t.”

Rick ‘Doc’ Walker

“I’d love to learn a lesson while Winning.”

Grant Paulsen (106.7 The Fan)

“The Commanders have fallen to 7-5. Lots of football left this season but this was a cold water performance. Hard to count wins against the bad teams they play in future after losing as an 11-point favorite.”

Thom Loverro (Washington Times)

“George Allen spinning in his grave — special teams allow 99-yard kickoff return. Remember the days when the Commanders went the entire game without punting?”

 

 

Ron Rivera is asked about coaching with your family

Ron Rivera talks about coaching with your family members.

On Friday, Commanders head coach Ron Rivera was asked about something that can be a very sticky issue.

Some were probably surprised to hear the question, but longtime ESPN Washington Insider John Keim has earned the right to inquire regarding some of the issues that can be difficult to discuss.

Rivera and defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio both have family that are employees on the football staff. When family members are hired, “sometimes” events transpire bringing the charge of nepotism. As many are aware in their own workplace environments, nepotism can be quite disruptive to the morale in an organization.

Rivera’s nephew, Vincent Rivera enters his sixth NFL season and second as Washington’s defensive quality control/assistant linebackers coach in 2022. Del Rio’s son, Luke Del Rio is entering his third season coaching in the NFL, his third as Washington’s offensive quality control coach and his first as the assistant quarterbacks coach in 2022.

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Keim inquired, “You have a relative on the coaching staff. What are the benefits of coaching with family?”

“Yeah, there is. I mean, it’s that familiarity. It’s funny because if somebody’s gonna tell me something I need to hear, it’s him. He’s not gonna shy away from it. And I could say the same thing for a couple of coaches that have been with me for a long, long time. [Assistant Defensive Backs Coach] Richard Rodgers, [Offensive Line Coach] John Matsko, they’re gonna tell me what I need to know and what I need to hear. They’re not gonna candycoat or sugarcoat anything. They’re just gonna tell me, ‘Hey, this, that, and the other thing.’ That’s just the way it needs to be and that’s the way it should be. All my coaches should be able to do that. But when you have a relative on it, yeah, he’s my nephew, and he’s a young guy that started from the bottom and is gonna work his way up, and hopefully he’ll get the opportunities that I’ve had.”

Keim followed up, “There are some teams that may have a rule against having somebody in your family on staff. Obviously, you don’t have a problem with it. What do you think about teams that don’t? And why do you like or favor that?”

“Well, it’s not necessarily that I like it; it’s just that there’s the opportunity. If I’d been told I couldn’t hire a relative, I wouldn’t have hired a relative. You know what I’m saying? But again, he’s starting at the bottom, and from that point, wherever he goes, he goes. I made it very clear cut that if anybody’s gonna have to do it the right way he is, just because of his last name. And I’ve been very clear with him and his parents. I told my brother, I said, just tell him don’t do anything that’s gonna make me fire him.”

I don’t think Keim was suggesting nepotism has been or is a current problem for the football staff. It being the third year, this has been the case; perhaps it was an appropriate and perceptive question for Keim to raise.

Rivera seemed to handle the question well, and even applied it directly to his own individual family situation.

John Keim doesn’t expect Brandon Scherff to return

ESPN’s John Keim discusses free agency and quarterbacks.

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ESPN’s Washington Commanders insider John Keim appeared on Kevin Sheehan’s The Team 980 show Tuesday, stating he is not yet accustomed to writing Washington Commanders. But Keim did say (as I did last night) he saw the survey as actually a positive for the Commanders that 41% already like the name.

Bobby McCain, J.D. McKissic, DeAndre Carter and Joey Slye are free agents Washington would like to retain. Due to his injury history, don’t expect Brandon Scherff to come back at a high price tag. Keim feels there will be a market for McKissic, however, because he is very good out of the backfield. Ricky Seals-Jones and Cam Sims are also good depth guys they would like back. Adam Humphries is wanted; however, he is good enough he could sign elsewhere, being more selective of the quarterback.

Keim is certain Washington coaches will want to play Cole Holcomb and Jamin Davis outside, so they will pursue an inside linebacker in free agency or the draft. A good inside linebacker would really make an impact in this defense. Keim genuinely feels Davis can play on the outside better than he did inside.

Who might the Commanders cut this offseason? Landon Collins is simply not feasible unless they lower that cap hit. “I don’t think Landon Collins is going to get that (his current salary) on the open market,” expressed Keim. He played well enough at a hybrid, if he does go to another team, they will likely use him in a similar role.

Keim laughingly said of course they are going hard after a quarterback. Head coach Ron Rivera has stated so multiple times. Deshaun Watson certainly would draw interest from Washington but there are too many questions and his court cases could also go into May.

Understandably Keim insisted it doesn’t make sense why the Raiders’ new coach Josh McDaniel or Seattle would get rid of their starters Derek Carr and Russell Wilson, respectively. There is no clear path to the next quarterback in either case.

Would they be interested in Carson Wentz? Keim thinks so but was quick to add that Wentz is someone they would probably add with a QB draft choice as well.