Dan Quinn is such a patient man with the press.
Monday, Quinn was again before the press after a bye week. He had taken several questions, answering the questions focusing on the process of work, habits, culture, and this week’s opponent, the New Orleans Saints.
Then Scott Abraham (Washington’s ABC7) asked, “To your point of enjoying the process of winning, in its simplest form right now, your team controls its own destiny.”
This is where the dialog began.
That’s true, the Commanders are in the seventh seed spot in the playoff race. Win out, and they are in.
Abraham continued, “Do you emphasize that to your players, ‘Hey, the ball is in our court,’ and how exciting is that to be in this position?”
Without hesitation, Quinn responded, “Scott, you must have just logged on. There is zero chance we are talking about four weeks down the road.” Quinn then laughed so as not to make it too stern of a rebuke.
Going a step further, Quinn reached out in friendship, “But what I can tell you my friend, is that we really try to stay into the here and now. Honestly, what I talked about with the team was a concept of base camp. We are not at the bottom, but we’re no where near the summit. You just try to get to the next camp and then the next one.”
“So, if we continue to chase that, Scott, that’s where it’s at for us.”
“So, for us this week, we’re going to constantly chase, can we get better, and do everything we need to do to get ready for New Orleans?”
“The following week, we will do the same. I try to make it a discipline. Can we be disciplined enough to not look three and four weeks down the road?”
“That’s what we will constantly go after. So, sorry to spoil your moment there, but I did have to correct you there on that one.”
It was textbook, about how to tell the truth yet make an effort to be kind.
Good job, Monday, Coach Dan.