HEAD COACH DAN QUINN

Postgame Press Conference
Friday, August 8, 2025

DQ: I missed it, man. We missed it tonight by a lot. All three phases. So what I'm looking for over the next ten days is like really good improvement. We had made good strides coming up here for the joint. A lot of evaluations to take place between the practice and the game, and that's still the case. I will look forward to going through both and getting to it. There were some things early that I saw that I liked. Saw some from [Josh] Conerly, [Trey] Amos, [Jer'Zhan] Newton, couple early that I saw. Then past that, like I said, hated the score. So I'll look at the evaluation; still things to get from it. I expect us to improve a good bit. Our flagship has certainly been on the special teams side. To see them score right off the bat, that one was a gut punch. I thought we battled back and got right to it and never clicked on in that way tonight. Probably saw from an injury standpoint, some guys. Fill you in more before practice on Sunday. May have seen Luke [McCaffrey] walked in. He had an illness pre-game. He tried to give it a go. He'll be back. Open up to questions. Injury-wise I'll have a better sense for you on Sunday.

Q: When you look at the overall game overall, what are some of the things? Was it the little things that weren't executed? But overall from the offensive side of the ball and the defensive side the ball a little bit?

DQ: Yeah, all three phases, I thought it was sloppy tonight. We had 15 penalties in different varieties. Pre-snap, 12 in the huddle, illegal formation; we had two holdings I believe on a kickoff return. There is just -- they stacked. That showed sloppiness to me. In the practice it was almost just the opposite. I thought, okay, you know how I feel about penalties, so that did not make my happy. Sometimes with penalties there is an over-trying that takes place. Usually that's with a holding, you know, he didn't let go, trying to make a play. But the pre-snap ones, those are lack of focus. Those are the ones that irritate me and drive me up a wall. And so those are some of the things that I talked about standards I expect to be improved in these ten days.

Q: Coach, to pull on that thread a little bit more. Yes, we do know how you feel about penalties. So what is the process there from an evaluation standpoint in that corrective action? What would need to be done from a coaching perspective or player perspective to really get that focus?

DQ: Yeah, it's a lot. First, we do teach off it. This is a foul. This is why it's a foul. This is the technique. Then you have to really drill it, to be honest with you. It's as easy as in a holding one, when do I release. Get to drill that. I got contact; I'm in contact; now I let go. Where you don't see two different colors, like for the referee, where he sees restricted material being grabbed and work to release. As far as the focus goes, those are aligning in the neutral zone, the pre-snap ones, why wasn't the formation correct, that does take extra focus. The practice for that is also mental work. Like our inner game is not strong enough if you have that many fouls. Meaning our inner game, our preparation for that. And so I'll work hard at that with the players.

Q: What did you see from the linebackers tonight?

DQ: Yeah, I want to watch it before I say. Didn't feel as clean as I hoped it would look. We have a lot of work to do. There is some real competition in this spot. As you're going into first performances, I don't want to rush to judgment on it. I would expect more plays, more rotations into the next game. We have another game, another practice, and another game for real evaluations. We go against ourself and that counts. It does make a difference against opponents in games.

Q: What did you like about what you saw from Jer'Zhan Newton today?

DQ: Yeah, I thought what I've seen over the last probably two weeks, I've really felt like his hand use as a pass rusher has stepped up, stepped in. He's got very good initial quickness off the ball. He can beat somebody to the punch. So there was a play, maybe the second drive, where he and [Jacob] Martin combined on a sack. You guys probably had a better view than me. I do like what I've seen from him pass rush -- wise, his hands, so I thought he was off to a good start.

Q: Coach, since you've been here you guys have placed a high importance on special teams.

DQ: Yes, absolutely.

Q: ...in a game with a 100-yard kickoff return and Matt [Gay]'s missed field goal, what would you say about that?

DQ: Yeah, it stung for us tonight. We have really, really high standards in that. Not just the returns, fouls on that. That's one of the phases that we really emphasize. Larry [Izzo] is right in the front of all that. It's impressive. So to have a performance where it didn't go our way, it can be confusing, can be surprising, all those emotions. None of us will have saw that coming. I like that we've tried to feature different guys. There are high standards that we want to do it, so let's get to it. But I was surprised and confused, like we all are. That's one that we really count on and lean in hard on, and we will. That was not indicative of who we want to be on special teams for sure.

Q: Could you talk about the quarterback. [Josh] Johnson was in here. You could just tell the frustration on his face. And just connecting to the receivers that looked like it was off up there.

DQ: Yeah, I think you're right on that. I'll go back and have a better sense once I go through. It did feel off in some ways. There are some good -- like most things, this guy, he did well; I don't want to like push it as one whole thing. I'll have a better sense after I go through it, Donna, honestly. I'm glad Josh [Johnson] and Sam [Hartman] are in this battle. I'm glad they got reps two days ago and they'll get more as we're going. We will get a sense where Marcus [Mariota] is at. It's important and they need the game reps. So even when it's uncomfortable it's really, really valuable and important. That's why I said in the next ten days I expect to see a better performance in all three phases.

Q: [Jacory Croskey-]Merritt, seems like he had a pretty solid game. Seven carries for 24 yards; one catch. Seemed like he had some explosiveness in there and he was reading really well.

DQ: Yeah, I believe there was one that may have got called back. I think it was -- I don't know if it was a check down or a run. I like the skills that we're seeing from (inaudible). I'm encouraged by what I've seen so far and I knew he was amped and ready to go for tonight. He makes plays and he has quickness. I love the ball security he had tonight. Those are important, and you can't overlook that. He was really ready to compete.

Q: The wideouts have had a lot of opportunities with Terry [McLaurin]'s absence. Are you waiting for a guy to really step forward and really seize that?

DQ: Yeah, that's kind of sometimes the -- I don't know if I have the right word, silver lining. Noah hasn't practiced a lot either. So, okay, then the chances come and the opportunities come, and you probably saw some of that tonight, whether it's featuring a guy on a deep ball, crossing routes, like different ones to go. I liked what I saw from Deebo at the practice. He's catch and run, there were screens, there was a fade. We call it a box fade where he's lined up at No. 2 and him and Jayden [Daniels] have a nice connection already on certain routes, and that happens. Okay, on this, Deebo [Samuel] to here. But you're right. We're still digging in to go and find out who can emerge and what the roles are. Seen some good things from Jaylin [Lane], Chris [Moore] in the practice parts I've seen more I'm talking about. We still got work to do and figure that part out. There is moments that they get more, and although sometimes you got to go through the evaluation piece and learn, like there is silver lining. It's hard when you're going through it, but I do enjoy those moments to find out as well, I'll be honest with you. Even if it's uncomfortable.

Q: Coach, when you have a performance like this does it make you look ahead and think, okay, obviously with the starters in there things may click better? (Indiscernible.)

DQ: Yeah, definitely the second. We have really high standards about how we want to do things and how we want to get down. When you miss them, man, you talk it. You drill it, you discuss it. We're going to watch it all, every bit of it. We also did the same thing when we like the plays from the practice. So it all counts. Everything does. That's no surprise to any of the players or any of the coaches. When you miss it, you acknowledge and talk it and say this can't happen. I'm not one that looks the other way or move on to the next. That's not how I get down. So if there is a lesson, I'm going to learn them. If it's for this player on this moment in this situation, it's important. And so I'm the one that has to keep the standard and we miss it, I missed it. So as much as there are some things I liked from the practice, there are some things that I really disliked from tonight's performance. It all counts and it's all part of it. Adam and I have plenty of tape to watch. We have a nice stretch between this game and the next one. I expect some of that sloppiness to get going. You get your ass kicked, but you're in the fight the whole time I can live with that. The ones that I don't are like, man, when we didn't play to the style, attitude, penalties. Those are the ones. I can almost live with any result when you put it all in and do it right, but when it's sloppy and not to the standards, that burns my ass.

Q: (Regarding Josh Conerly.)

DQ: I'll have to look. Felt that way. The last -- the practice one I felt it. I really did. Quickness off the ball. Liked seeing him and LT doing some things together. Didn't get as much of a sense tonight. Protection to his side felt strong. Just felt clean for him. We knew going into it we were going to play X amount at practice and try to get 20 or so in the game. We accomplished that. Felt clean. It's usually what happens with the younger player. Like they go in these jumps and hit plateaus and hit the jumps again. The veteran players it's like the ceiling is harder. A guy like Jeremy McNichols. Really consistent. Like it's a little bit more and I liked it because of that consistency. For the younger ones you see these big swings. It's like awesome one, sometimes a down one, and you're trying to level it out. What I felt maybe over the last couple days is like this. (Showing upward.) I'll have to look at it and assess it again. But being available and the work ethic and the way he's growing, got some really cool veterans around him that can share that too. I know what I felt from watching the practice tape. I sense I'm in the same space again. Like I said I felt strong with him in the first performance.

COMMANDERS PLAYERS

Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Running Back

(On things being fixable)

"Yeah, things are fixable, I think I was moving a little too fast, but I mean, I think it's going to take time as my first game, and I think things are going to slow down for me and that'll be good."

(On the pride the team has)

"I mean, anytime we are going to feel like we want to win, that's where we want to compete. Even though it's preseason, it's just a bad feeling. It's just losing the game. We've just got to come back tomorrow and be ready to work."

Sam Hartman, Quarterback

(His thoughts on the performance of the offense)

"I think we were just sloppy all the way around. As a quarterback you want to take the responsibility of everything that transpires. It is never good to get beat like that. Not getting in the end zone is tough. I think as a unit, we are going to take responsibility of it all. We need to work to figure out what we can get better at and go from there. It was frustrating for sure. As a quarterback you want to win, see good results, and so you take it as a responsibility that the mistakes and everything were just kind of on you. So, as a team, we'll just kind of get back together, regroup, and figure out the problems and just clean everything up. It's never good to get beat like that. It starts with the quarterback play. You've got to want to be perfect in every situation. You get the ball in a short field, the defense did a great job. I think that's where you look at it and you say it starts, and rhythm is the name of the game. I just look and there are things in there that we can say we did well and there is a lot of things we say we did really bad, so I take responsibility for that. "

(On his last drive)

"I think we found a little bit of a groove and we just executed up front. All day they gave us a lot of time, so I'd always credit the whole line for that. They played a really solid game."

Jalyn Holmes, Defensive End

(On how the team played together)

"I think as a collective group, you know, we could have just focused on the details to be a little bit better. That's why we didn't start how we wanted to start. A lot of guys fought back as hard as they could, but just not the type of start we were wanting to come out with. But I definitely think a lot of guys played with a lot a lot of high energy, and yeah, that's just kind of how that was."

(On taking pride even with the loss)

"Oh, yes, of course. I mean, I always take pride of my work. So you know, with the type of performance like that, it never feels good. The great thing about it is we get to go look back at the lab and, a lot of things are very fixable, and we keep grinding. We just keep chopping at it, and we just keep getting better, and everything. Like I said, today is very fixable."

Von Miller, Linebacker

(On his role as a veteran)

"I'm an open book on the defense and the pass rush, just overall coaching and getting through adversity. I just relay some of the experiences and some of the great players I've been around and provide information."

(On his longevity)

"I just take it one day at a time. I don't like to look up, I just stay in my routine. I found that the older I get, the harder I try. When you're young, if a meeting is at 8:00AM you get there at 7:45, 7:50 maybe. Now, I like to wake up and get there. I found the older I get I spend more time around it. Whatever God gives me, I'm going to take. You don't want to get kicked out of the league but you don't want to leave to early."

(On his memories of playing New England)

"In 2014, 2013, 2012 we had some really big games, especially with Peyton Manning."