Coach Brian Daboll previews Week 2 vs. Commanders
Head Coach Brian Daboll
BRIAN DABOLL: First and foremost, prayers, thoughts go out to anyone that was affected in that tragedy that happened 23 years ago. Spoke to the team a little bit about that today. Thank you to the military, police, firefighters, first responders. Very vivid in my mind where I was at that time, and I'm sure it is for a lot of you. Always a tough day. Again, very thankful for the people that helped along the way, and prayers to the people that were affected by it.
In terms of where we're at, getting ready for Washington. Four players won't practice. (Wide receiver) Gunner (Olszewski), (wide receiver Darius) Slayton's in concussion protocol, (inside linebacker) Darius Muasau has a knee, and (cornerback Nick) McCloud has a knee. Day-to-day we'll see where those two are at. Everybody else will be good to go.
Q: Do you expect (inside linebacker) Micah (McFadden) to be able to do more this week going in with Muasau not practicing?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I expect him to take the reps today at practice that he needs to take.
Q: Gunner did not go on IR. Is that an option for him?
BRIAN DABOLL: We'll see here. It's going to be weeks here for him. Again, how many weeks, not sure quite yet, but you won't see him for at least a few weeks.
Q: Obviously (quarterback) Daniel (Jones), it's only human nature to lose confidence after things didn't go his way last week, so how have you as a head coach who calls plays, coordinating all that stuff, kind of build up his confidence heading into Sunday? Or try to build him back up? It's only human nature you're going to lose some confidence, right? So how do you try to build him back up going into Sunday's game?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, that goes for everybody. Again, there's 16 teams that are not very happy this past week on a Monday or Tuesday. Again, you have relationships with players. I've had plenty of conversations with multiple players. He's someone that I talk to every day. We talk about the discipline to do things right on and off the field like he always does, having a positive attitude regardless of situation. It's never easy when you lose a game, or you don't play well, or you don't coach well. That's the National Football League. This is 24 years into it. There's not much of that I haven't experienced. So, keeping a positive attitude, doing the things that you need to do each and every week to prepare for a game, which he'll do. And then handling things with the right mindset. Be able to persevere through things, let your passion show, have competitive stamina. Mental toughness is a real thing. Focus on the things that's important, which is what his coaches are teaching him to do, how he goes out and practices with the right mindset. That's what you do with every player, with every coach.
Q: I totally get that. As we all know, QB is the most important position, maybe in professional sports. That's why I'm asking.
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, that's okay. And I understand the question.
Q: Is he where you want him at? That's all I'm asking.
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, and I appreciate the question, but that's what you do. You have relationships with players, you correct them, you show them, you're there for them, you have good conversations. Because sometimes players or coaches, you need to have those conversations.
Q: Do you see a quarterback who's playing with confidence?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, we've played one game, so no one did good enough that first game. So again, team sport and we'll work on fixing it.
Q: What have you seen from him since that game?
BRIAN DABOLL: Well, we haven't practiced yet.
Q: In regards to how he's carrying himself, how he's handled the disappointment of that game in particular?
BRIAN DABOLL: Well again, we're moving on to this week. Nobody was happy with the results of last week, so locked in, loaded, ready to go, go through the scouting report, game plan, go out and have a good practice. That's what you have to do each and every week in this league. Whether you win or whether you lose, that's where your focus has to be is in the moment.
Q: In Hard Knocks when you were asked about (Commanders Quarterback) Jayden Daniels about possibly trading up, you said 'yeah, okay, let's do it'. What did you like about him so much that you would have said that?
BRIAN DABOLL: I think he's a good football player. He's athletic. He's dynamic with the ball in his hands, whether it's a passer or a runner. But again, this is more about the Washington offense in general. They played a good Tampa Bay team. Tampa Bay played well. He's a rookie quarterback that definitely did some good things that you saw from college on tape. He had 88 yards, 70 yards on scrambles, throws the ball well, but it's more about getting ready to play their entire offense.
Q: Did he look like a rookie in the first game? You talked about his legs. Obviously physically he can do a lot of really good things, but a lot of the rookies you've seen in the league look like rookies.
BRIAN DABOLL: Looks like a good football player to me. Again, I'm sure there's plays he would like to have back just like all of us, but I think he's a good football player. I think he's a good quarterback. I think they've got a lot of good pieces around him. (Commanders Wide Receiver Terry) McLaurin is an exceptional receiver. Speed. (Commanders Running Back Brian) Robinson is a tough runner. They brought (Commanders Running Back) Austin (Ekeler) over there from LA. Again, it's the biggest team sport there is, and that's where we'll focus.
Q: How much more challenging is it to prepare for a team that has a rookie quarterback, new head coach, kind of doing an overhaul?
BRIAN DABOLL: In the early part of the season, it's like that, but now you add (Commanders Head Coach) Dan (Quinn), even though he was at Dallas, but he has different players on Washington than he had at Dallas. The quarterback is in his second start, so there's not a lot of tape other than you go back and there's plenty of tape that we watched at LSU. Again, it's still early in the season, so some of the preparation and the things that you go through, there's a lot of tape to sift through. You make sure you hit the big details.
Q: Does the work that you did on Jayden going to the draft help you at all here?
BRIAN DABOLL: I've spent a lot of time looking at some of those guys. If I didn't look at them, I'd spend a lot of time looking at them this week. There's cutups that I've made that I can refer to or go back and talk with the defensive staff about. There's a little bit more time on some other things, but I put a lot of work into that. Again, he's played in one game in a regular season, so we'll use that. It's really more about us and how we do things.
Q: How tricky is it that you are on camera saying that was a situation that unfolded? You have to deal with that. You said this is a guy I do like enough that I would want to draft him and now to have to play him. You have a different quarterback here. What's that like for you to navigate?
BRIAN DABOLL: I'd say I've had that conversation weeks ago or whenever that happened. Our focus right now is on what we're doing in the moment, which is getting ready to play a game.
Q: You're saying with us you've had that conversation or with Daniel?
BRIAN DABOLL: No, not with you. With my player.
Q: How do you get (wide receiver) Malik (Nabers) more involved?
BRIAN DABOLL: Throw him the ball.
Q: Were there times that you thought the ball was going there and Daniel directed it otherwise?
BRIAN DABOLL: I thought Daniel- again, I don't want to live too much in last week. We're moving on. Move him around like we do. If he's the first read, he's the first read. If he's the second read, he's the second read. Continue to work with him. When he's open, give it to him.
Q: Now that you've had a chance to dig into the tape, what did you identify as the things that are a big priority to focus on this week?
BRIAN DABOLL: Really us doing everything better. That's what we'll try to do.
Q: How does Slayton actually feel?
BRIAN DABOLL: No, I think concussions are different for every player. I think every guy is different. There's been progress, but again, I don't think you mess around with those type of things. He won't do anything today. Each day they come in, they get tested, they go through things. I'm sure if he passes protocol and all that stuff, then he'll be ready to go, but those head injuries are tricky injuries. I don't want to take those lightly.
Q: Is he at the physical activity?
BRIAN DABOLL: No, he's not doing anything today.
Q: Is it as simple as (wide receiver) Jalin (Hyatt) stepping into that spot and moving on?
BRIAN DABOLL: It is.
Q: How comfortable are you with him? Obviously, you mentioned the other day about the depth chart and where he was in his snaps. If he has to move up in the depth chart, what's your thoughts on Jalin?
BRIAN DABOLL: I feel good about him.
Q: Did the Commanders struggle on defense last weekend with 37 points?
BRIAN DABOLL: I thought they made a lot of good plays too. They had eight, seven negative plays. Six of them were in the run game. I thought (Buccaneers quarterback) Baker (Mayfield) made some really good throws and decisions. (Wide receiver Mike) Evans made some good plays. They (Tampa Bay) played well offensively. There was a lot of good things. They're playing a different style than they've played the last few years. They're aggressive up front. The two guys inside have been the two guys inside for a while. (Commanders Defensive Linemen Jonathan) Allen and Daron (Payne) are Alabama guys that I've had familiarity with. They're playing good. Again, first game, they did some good things. Tampa, I thought, played well. Had some big plays in the screen game, the run game, down the field, and some match ups. I think they're a good team.
Q: Is Baker Mayfield an example of a guy, specifically a quarterback, that maybe lost his confidence and was able to bounce back and play some really good ball?
BRIAN DABOLL: I don't want to speak for Baker. I've never been around him other than evaluating him. I haven't been with him in the meeting rooms or things that he's went through. I think that'd be unfair of me to do.
Q: What is your preferred offensive identity? What do you want to hang your hat on as an offense?
BRIAN DABOLL: Scoring points.
Q: Do you have an overarching concern that you haven't thrown a touchdown pass in the preseason or the regular season?
BRIAN DABOLL: Our focus is on trying to score points.
