Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn has had a difficult week so far. After the egregious clock-management error on Sunday that cost the Commanders a win in a 27-27 tie with the New York Giants, Quinn said after the game that he took full responsibility.
The Commanders had the ball deep in Giants territory, but instead of stopping the clock—they had no timeouts remaining—Washington chose to run a play, and quarterback Jayden Daniels didn’t get rid of the ball and was tackled, letting the clock run out. While Daniels, Quinn and offensive coordinator David Blough all deserve blame for the gaffe, one of Quinn’s former star players doesn’t blame his former mentor.
Green Bay Packers linebacker Micah Parsons played his first three seasons under
Quinn with Dallas. Quinn was the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator, and Parsons was arguably the NFL’s most feared defender during that time. When Quinn left to become Washington’s head coach, Parsons lamented losing his former coach and told Washington players and fans how fortunate they wereto have him.
After Quinn left Dallas, Parsons revealed that the pair still communicated. Now, Parsons, still recovering from a torn ACL last year, weighed in on Washington’s tie with the Giants, and he made it clear where the blame should lie.
“Jayden Daniels probably cost my man Dan Quinn his job, to be honest with you,” Parsons said on his show, “The Edge.”
“And I’m a big Jayden Daniels fan. But the reality is, like, he probably cost a lot of people their jobs this past weekend.”
That led Parsons’ co-host to ask whether he didn’t think some of that was on the coaching staff.
“All respectfully, we get coached so much on these situations. Like, I’m a defensive player, and this s--t is programmed into me. I even know what to do in those situations,” Parsons responded. “There’s no way I’m taking a sack with 14 seconds left and no timeouts. Mind you, it would be different if Jayden Daniels was a rookie. This is your third year ... you’ve been to the NFC championship game; you’ve been in big moments before. And, like, to me, after a sack, you’re casually getting up.”
Parsons said much more. He acknowledged he was a fan of Daniels, but he wished he had shown more urgency after he was tackled. He said those are things Daniels shouldn’t want on tape in what is essentially a contract year for him.
Keep in mind, Parsons is coming from a place where he is defending someone close to him. He makes several valid points, though, and isn’t wrong. While Quinn is the head coach and “everything starts at the top,” Daniels and Blough are not blameless.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Micah Parsons has harsh words for Jayden Daniels regarding Dan Quinn
