- 9 minutes ago
It seems like everything has gone wrong for the Washington Commanders since the season kicked off. In this segment, Mike Jones joins The Sports Junkies to break down Washington’s run of bad luck and how they can turn things around. What are you hoping to see from the Commanders during this tough stretch?
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Mike Jones, columnist for The Athletic.
00:03You can follow him on Twitter, at ByMikeJones.
00:07Mike, good morning.
00:08How are you?
00:09I'm doing well.
00:10How are you guys doing?
00:11We are doing well.
00:12Lots to talk about in week two.
00:13Yeah, it's definitely a lot to get to.
00:15So, after Jaden Daniels was injured, you retweeted Nicky Javala.
00:21Nicky tweeted, Jaden Daniels is down on the field, was grabbing his left arm, which is
00:25bent in a way that an arm should not be bent.
00:27Your retweet, all because Dan Quinn refused to go for a field goal as time expired, continuing
00:33to roll the dice with his quarterback's health.
00:37Now, I agree with him trying to go for the field goal, take the points, go into halftime,
00:42but I would disagree a little bit on gambling this health because if you can't just run
00:47a simple play with Jaden Daniels at the end of a half when you're trying to score a touchdown
00:50and you're fearing for his safety at that point, I just feel like you can't even have
00:56him out there playing NFL quarterback.
00:58That's just kind of the way I view it.
01:00I mean, he's eventually going to get hurt anyway.
01:01Right.
01:02Yeah, and I get what you're saying.
01:05I don't know about you guys.
01:06I had a sick feeling throughout the game every time he took off to run.
01:10I think it was the run before that on the same drive where somebody like clipped his ankle
01:16and he was kind of like hobbling going back to the huddle.
01:19It's like this kid is still being asked to do too much and that line is still very shaky
01:28and I felt like, look, okay, this is halftime.
01:32It's not the end of the game.
01:34Take the points.
01:35Get off the field.
01:36Because if you get stopped, I mean, you're getting the ball back to start the second half
01:40anyway.
01:41I felt like that.
01:42Now, yes, it's a freak injury.
01:45You shouldn't have to be worried that every time the guy posts with his left arm that his
01:49elbow is going to pop out.
01:50But the fact that he hasn't played a whole lot of games and he's still working his way
01:55back into the flow of things, I felt like it was a roll of the dice.
01:59I felt like it was avoidable.
02:01Now, he could have done it again in the second half, but that was a situation I felt was avoidable
02:06and that, you know, again, take the points, get off the field and go into halftime, get
02:12the ball back after that and you would have avoided what we just had.
02:15I personally would have taken the points too.
02:18But, you know, the injury thing, I think that that elbow is unstable enough that that was
02:22going to happen inevitably, obviously.
02:24At some point, somebody was going to throw him around and, you know, that was probably
02:27going to pop out.
02:28But, you know, whatever.
02:29It is what it is.
02:30I will say this, Mike.
02:31I get what you're saying about kind of cringing every time he runs because I think a lot of
02:35us do do that.
02:36But I did think he, it's so obvious he's making a concerted effort to get down to the best
02:42he can.
02:42You know, obviously you're out there, so anything can happen.
02:44I thought he was doing an incredible job of protecting himself to the extent that he
02:48could.
02:48And I kind of think, and none of the, none of them were designed runs, right?
02:53They were all just like, everything's falling apart.
02:55Let me just take off and do my thing.
02:57I kind of think that's the blueprint for the future.
02:59Less designed runs.
03:01Let him, you know, do his thing and make him do, you know, let him do what makes him special,
03:05but really make a concerted effort to get down.
03:08And I thought he did a great job of that.
03:10Yeah, I felt like he was doing that.
03:13There were a couple of times I was like, dude, just slide.
03:15And, you know, he got picked up a few more yards and yeah, he, he wasn't taking big licks,
03:20but there was just that, that, I don't know.
03:23I wasn't surprised when he got hurt.
03:25Cause I just felt like, and maybe, dude, maybe that's a bad mindset to have.
03:29Um, or maybe if you have that type of concern, then, you know, he's not the guy, the franchise guy
03:37that, you know,
03:37they were hoping he would be, uh, it'll be interesting to see how quickly he can bounce back.
03:42Um, what they can do for that elbow, if a brace provides stability, if he can still be effective.
03:48Uh, but here we are, it's just unfortunate that once again, they are hoping to, you know, it's a big,
03:54crucial season
03:55and they're going to be without their quarterback for, um, you know, possibly, possibly the rest of the year.
04:01Yeah.
04:02It just sucks.
04:03If he has the surgery probably the rest of the year.
04:06Yeah.
04:06I mean, you kind of wonder, I mean, you always, you can say, you know, hindsight, but did he, should
04:10he have gotten the surgery last year?
04:12Um, you know, would that have like made a difference?
04:15Uh, but then you just look at his frame and he is like a really slender guy.
04:19There aren't a lot of quarterbacks that are built like him.
04:21Yeah.
04:22Um, you know, I think they're going to have to listen.
04:24I said this on Grant and Danny yesterday, and I really think this, you know, you have to stop with
04:29all the extension talk.
04:30Obviously there's not going to be an extension anytime soon.
04:33Right.
04:33You got to prove what you can do.
04:35Um, I think you kind of made your bed.
04:37You drafted us a guy built like a twig.
04:39Unfortunately, I love him.
04:40I think his, his talent is undeniable.
04:43He's an elite, elite talent, but you kind of just, this is, you know, for five years, at least you
04:48got to just, you play him and then he gets hurt and you got to patch him up and throw
04:52him out there and play him, patch him up and throw him out there and get hurt.
04:54And you just, we got to stop thinking about what's it mean for the future.
04:57What's it mean?
04:57I mean, we drafted a spindly guy.
04:59I think you got, you're kind of, you got to, this is the die you've cast.
05:03You got to go down with the ship.
05:04You got to sink or swim with this guy and with his body.
05:07This, it is what it is.
05:08And then you make a decision and, you know, you don't make a decision now.
05:11You make a decision in two years if, if he stays or goes.
05:16Yeah.
05:16And I mean, I think that it's possible.
05:18I'm working on a story right now where I'm gathering string, talking to a lot of old guys in the
05:22NFL.
05:23And they talk about how, you know, Joe Flacco, you know, Josh Johnson, some of the Calais Campbell, some of
05:29these guys say they understand so much better now how to take care of their body.
05:33So a lot of times they feel better the day after a game than what they did when they were
05:3820-something.
05:39So it's possible that Jaden will continue to work on his body.
05:44He'll continue to learn.
05:45I don't know how to get stronger.
05:47I don't think he's going to get more bulky, but how to, you know, you know, become more, you know,
05:53durable in time.
05:54But I think you're right.
05:55You don't worry about an extension.
05:57You play out this rookie contract.
05:59You pick up the fifth-year option and you see where you are after that.
06:04Talking to Mike Jones, columnist for The Athletic.
06:07Let's get beyond the Jaden Daniels injury and talk about Dan Quinn.
06:12Commanders have now lost 12 of their last 14 games.
06:15Where is he thought of around the league?
06:17What's his standing, you think?
06:19If this season goes where we think it's going to go, they've started off 0-2.
06:23They don't have their starting quarterback.
06:25What do you think is going to happen with Dan Quinn?
06:27Yeah, I mean, it's very possible that he's not back.
06:31You know, you had a great first year.
06:35You're hoping to build on that and you regress.
06:38Now, I mean, injury is a big factor.
06:41And so maybe that buys him a little bit more grace.
06:45But if they get everybody back and they're still not competitive, then, you know, it's possible that they make a
06:51change.
06:51We saw how his tenure in Atlanta went, where he had a really good first couple years and then it
06:57just gradually continued to slide.
06:59We don't know what Josh Johnson's patience level is for his head coaches, what he will stomach.
07:12Obviously, they want to be competitive.
07:14They want to be going into, you know, once they open this new stadium, teams want to be like, you
07:19know, really in top form.
07:21So they pack that thing out.
07:22So we'll see what happens.
07:24But he's got to, it's believed that he's got to have a good competitive season.
07:29It doesn't say he's got to make a deep playoff run, but they got to be in the hunt and
07:34they got to, you know, show that they have improved and fixed a lot of the problems that hampered them
07:39last year.
07:41Yeah, it's not just J.D. that got hurt.
07:43I mean, a couple other guys got hurt, you know, starters, offensive lineman, Cosme, Kinlaw, that guy's banged.
07:49Nick Cross had to go to a hospital after the game for an internal issue.
07:53He's been a stud for us.
07:54I mean, so many injuries.
07:55It's just kind of like last year.
07:56It's been a disaster.
07:57All right.
07:59I mean, it's only been two weeks, but multiple starting quarterbacks are going to be out for a while.
08:04Caleb, out for a while.
08:06Hamstring injury.
08:07I mean, we think, we don't really know.
08:09I mean, he could be.
08:10I mean, it's a freaking hamstring.
08:12He could be back maybe in a week or two.
08:14Maybe, but he could be out for longer than that.
08:17Who knows?
08:17Bottom line is these starting quarterbacks, Jackson Dart, that didn't look good last night.
08:22No, no.
08:23His leg went the wrong way.
08:26Your thoughts on some of these younger quarterbacks getting banged up, going to be out for a while?
08:30Yeah, I mean, it just shows the importance of having a quality backup because, you know,
08:37you want to make sure there's not a big drop-off.
08:40I know that Jameis Winston is a guy who, you know, is really well-liked within that organization,
08:46and he, you know, can come in and do some good things, but he also can come in and, you
08:51know,
08:51keep the other team in game and give the game away as well.
08:53Now, you know, when you look at Atlanta with their quarterback situation, we'll see what Michael Penix does,
08:58but they've got a shaky situation.
09:01You know, you've got to have a quality guy behind just so that way, I mean, like,
09:07we don't think of Drew Locke as a really solid guy, but he has been able to come in two
09:13games now,
09:15play within that system, distribute the ball, set up their playmakers,
09:18and that's what you need because, you know, if you are without your starting guy for a significant stretch,
09:25then you're in trouble.
09:27Chicago, they feel like they've got, you know, something, you know, there with their backup,
09:31and I think they'll be able to kind of tread water a little bit until they get Caleb Williams back,
09:36but you really can't roll the dice with, you know, kind of a shaky quarterback room like we've seen,
09:44you know, some of these teams, like Atlanta, I think is just like a disaster.
09:48They were a disaster before their season even started, so we'll see what happens,
09:53but it just really puts the premium on and a reliable quality backup quarterback.
09:58Mike, speaking of disasters, the Tampa Bay Bucs are 0-2, and they lost at home to the Cleveland Browns.
10:05I mean, Baker Mayfield just gets minted with a brand new contract, I think it was like 10 days ago,
10:09and they start the season stubbing their toe against the Browns.
10:13I mean, that's an ugly, ugly way for them to start the season.
10:16Can they recover from that start?
10:18Well, I mean, there's a lot of pressure on Todd Bowles now because you look at the way the second
10:22half of last year went,
10:24what were they, 2-7 or something like that, and then you're 0-2 now.
10:29He already went in this whole offseason and got a new offense coordinator, got a new defense coordinator,
10:34new special teams coach.
10:36You know, that's a guy who is desperate to turn things around, and if they, you know, can't,
10:43and if they struggle, then he could be one of the first coaches that winds up getting fired, I think.
10:50We'll see what happens with them.
10:51They've got pieces.
10:53Yes, they have some young guys, you know, at the wide receiver position that they are asking a lot of,
10:58but they've got young pieces on defense.
11:01It was expected that they were going to be able to bounce back and really be competitive in that division,
11:06but this start so far, you know, obviously Cincinnati is much improved,
11:10but losing to the Browns is just really, really a bad look right there,
11:15and so they've definitely got to get things turned around in a hurry.
11:18What about Harbaugh and the Chargers?
11:21I mean, 0-2, lost to two teams at home that both drafted in the top five, I believe, last
11:27year.
11:28Right, and, you know, Mike McDaniel was supposed to fix everything they thought he was supposed to elevate,
11:34but the stuff that we're seeing, the penalties and the miscues and the ball security issues,
11:41that's not, you know, an X and O problem.
11:44It doesn't matter how fancy a playbook Mike McDaniel has if these guys don't play with discipline and attention to
11:49detail.
11:50That starts with the head coach, but also, you know, McDaniel, you know, runs the offense
11:55and runs those offensive practices, part of his knock when he was in Miami was a lack of discipline,
11:59and you just wonder if, you know, some of the sloppiness is a result of that,
12:03but Harbaugh's definitely got to, you know, get this thing fixed
12:07because they really are in a tough division, and they can't afford to fall really far behind
12:12because the Chiefs are back, the Raiders are 2-0.
12:17We thought they were going to be bringing up the rear in that division,
12:19and the Broncos, you know, look pretty solid too.
12:22You mentioned the Chiefs.
12:24And by the way, they've got to go play Buffalo this week, at Buffalo.
12:27Yeah, it's a bad, tough stretch for them coming up.
12:29You're looking at 0-3.
12:31Mike, obviously Mahomes is back, but Kenneth Walker, his addition to that offense is a game changer.
12:38I mean, that dude is explosive.
12:40Now, the question is, can he do it for 16 or 17 games?
12:43He's a guy that has an injury history, but, man, the first two,
12:47it's looking like that investment is paying off for the Chiefs.
12:51No, and this is exactly what they wanted.
12:54Remember the criticism the last couple years?
12:56There was too much on Mahomes, his supporting cast.
12:58And so they went out, and they added Walker.
13:02They added more, you know, impactful guys to their defense.
13:05You know, they've got some young playmakers.
13:07And so, remember the first week, Mahomes didn't even look that good,
13:10and they, you know, scored more than 30 points.
13:13Last week, we saw Mahomes looking more like Mahomes,
13:15but they've got this added element where you now have to account for the run.
13:18And so there are times when the safety is creeping down towards the box
13:22because he thinks they're going to run.
13:23And then we see Travis Kelsey catching passes going down the seam
13:27and, you know, picking up big chunks when Kelsey looked, you know, done last year.
13:31So they are rejuvenated.
13:34And if they can stay healthy, then we could see, you know, a resurgence out of them.
13:39And just they check a lot of the boxes with the versatility, both sides of the ball,
13:44the foot, you know, defense being, you know, really formidable
13:47and having some young playmakers in the wide receiver position
13:50that are starting to emerge as well.
13:53They're, you know, might wind up, you know, winning this whole AFC
13:56and making a run at the Super Bowl again.
13:59Mike, thanks as always for the time.
14:01It is appreciated.
14:02We'll have you on again soon.
14:03Thanks, buddy.
14:04All right.
14:04Thanks for having me, guys.
14:05Good talking to you.
14:05That's Mike Jones, columnist for The Athletic.
14:09Got to see him in person a couple weeks ago at AWOD's Football Fest.
14:13So that was good to catch up with him.
14:15Don't forget, coming up in just about 20 minutes,
14:17we'll get back into the Jaden Daniels injury with Dr. Jesse Morse.
14:21He's an injury expert.
14:23He'll join the show coming up at 8 a.m.
Comments