After the Washington Commanders lost 44-22 to the Detroit Lions, head coach Dan Quinn stepped up to take matters into his own hands. Quinn is now taking over defensive play-calling, a job that used to belong to defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr.

For Whitt, it’s not ideal, but it’s not shocking either. When NBC Sports’ JP Finlay asked how it felt, this is what the DC said.

“I’ve been in this business long enough,” Whitt said. “At the end of the day, it’s about winning and about producing. And we’ve yet to do that this year. So it wasn’t necessarily anything that I was necessarily shocked by. We’re here to win. So no different than if you move a player in and out. Sometimes that happens in coaching.”

Fair enough. The Commanders are 3-7 and riding a five-game losing streak. Someone had to take the wheel. But as far as Whitt is concerned, he’s still the defensive coordinator, just won’t call the plays anymore. But how does Whitt take it emotionally?

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When asked if it was hard to accept, Whitt went with a team-first mindset.

“The performance was not what it needed to be, and we’re not winning. So it doesn’t matter if it’s hard or not. It is what it is,” Whitt added.

For Quinn, this role isn’t new. He has called plays before with the Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks. He was the architect behind those fearsome Seattle defenses of 2013 and 2014, the ones that smothered opponents and carried the franchise to back-to-back Super Bowls. 

Later, Quinn revived his image in Dallas. Joining as defensive coordinator, he turned a struggling Cowboys unit into one of the NFL’s most dangerous, earning AP Assistant Coach of the Year honors in 2021. 

Over his three-year run there, his defenses were among the league’s best in points allowed (no.5), sacks (no.6), and interceptions (no.1). That’s a track record that explains why Washington turned to him when things started going sideways.

And when Quinn stepped in, he said it was about finding solutions. When things go wrong, the only question is what you’ll do to fix it. But where did everything go so wrong for Washington? Here’s how Whitt sees it.

Joe Whitt Jr. on where things went wrong

For Whitt, the message was clear: accountability starts with himself. The defense hasn’t played remotely close to its potential, and he knows it. When asked where things began to spiral, Whitt didn’t deflect but kept the focus forward.

“There’s a myriad of things, but I’m not gonna get here and talk about that right now,” he said. “The main thing is that we need to put a system together that we can win…And then we’ll worry about everything else moving forward.”

That’s the coach’s version of hitting the reset button. Just fix what’s broken and move on. The Commanders are now betting on Quinn’s experience and Whitt’s professionalism to clean up a defensive unit that’s been slipping for too long.