It’s been quite a week for the Washington Commanders. After falling to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 6 on Monday Night Football, the Commanders lost wide receiver Terry McLaurin for the season, hired a former head coach as a defensive consultant, and, on Friday, lost defensive tackle Daron Payne to a “significant” injury.
The defensive assistant, Steve Wilks, was hired to provide another set of eyes and help with game planning. It was to be a part-time role, and Wilks wasn’t going to be with the Commanders on game day.
Wilks’ role didn’t take long to change. On Thursday, it was revealed that Wilks would be on the sideline with the Commanders for their Sunday night game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Defensive coordinator Daronte Jones said
the addition of Wilks frees him up to handle other responsibilities.
“It definitely does free me up in certain ways and just still manufacturing, working through how exactly we wanna disperse that, the workspace,” Jones said. “So, we’re still working through those a little bit.”
On Friday, head coach Dan Quinn confirmed Wilks would be on the sideline for Sunday’s game, but that wouldn’t necessarily happen every week.
“He’ll be on the sideline this week,” Quinn said of Wilks. “As an addition, coaches, players, we’ve enjoyed connecting with him. His heavy lifting is normally Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. And when the schedule allows it, there’ll be some times that he can come back for some games. This is one of those weeks."
Why the change?
Wilks is a very respected coach. A former head coach of the Cardinals and an interim coach of the Panthers, Wilks has also had multiple stints as an NFL defensive coordinator. Quinn also mentioned that the players specifically enjoyed connecting with Wilks.
Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic spoke with multiple Washington defensive backs, who echoed Quinn’s sentiments.
The hiring of Steve Wilks may be a desperate measure to improve the Commanders. But his involvement with the secondary also says a lot about what’s been missing from that room.
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) October 30, 2026
Here’s what a few Commanders DBs told me today: pic.twitter.com/Udjlx1Drfr
Cornerback Trey Amos: “He’s helped us a lot..... He’s done a lot.”
Cornerback Amik Robertson: “Very helpful..... He’s been very helpful for us.”
Safety Quan Martin: ” He’s helped a lot...... I think it’s good for us.”
That certainly sounds encouraging. Now, we’ll see if that help shows up on the field beginning on Sunday night.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Multiple Commanders' players use one word to describe Steve Wilks
