ASHBURN, Va. -- Four days after the Washington Commanders' overtime clock-management gaffe resulted in a tie with the New York Giants, quarterback Jayden Daniels said the blame falls on him.
"Ultimately, it's on me at the end of the day," Daniels said Thursday. "I know DQ (coach Dan Quinn) is getting a lot of flak for it and whatever. But regardless of what happens, I'm the person on the field who is supposed to calm everything, control everything, and I failed to (meet) the standard I hold myself to and the standard of the organization."
Daniels said he addressed his teammates and made it clear to them that "it'll never happen again."
"They know how much this game means to me, and a lapse like that is uncharacteristic for myself, and it's not the standard I hold myself to," he said.
The Commanders blew a 14-point lead they had held with a little more than seven minutes remaining in regulation, sending the game to overtime tied at 27.
Both teams failed to score on their first possession of the extra period, then the Giants fumbled on their second possession. Commanders defensive tackle Daron Payne and linebacker Sonny Styles knocked the ball out of the arms of Giants running back Cam Skattebo, and defensive tackle Shy Tuttle recovered it to give Washington's offense a chance to win the game in the final two minutes.
Daniels led the Commanders into field goal range with a long scramble and three completions. But after running back Rachaad White gained a couple of extra yards that put them at the New York 24-yard line, the Commanders burned roughly 39 seconds off the clock before Daniels snapped the ball again on a second-and-8 with 12 seconds left.
The Commanders had no timeouts, but instead of spiking the ball or throwing it out of bounds to stop the clock, Daniels danced behind the line of scrimmage looking to run, then was sacked for no gain.
The Commanders' offensive players, seemingly unaware of the circumstances, let too much time run off the clock before getting lined up again, and time expired before Daniels could take another snap.
The baffling sequence made the Commanders the biggest talking point in the NFL, with former players (and one current player) as well as ex-coaches and team executives weighing in on social media and elsewhere.
Former Pittsburgh Steelers coach and current NBC Sports analyst Mike Tomlin said during his network's "Sunday Night Football" coverage that the final minutes of the Commanders game were "disgusting."
"Division wins are too precious in the National Football League," Tomlin added. "I was disgusted by the Skattebo fumble. I threw up in my mouth a little bit at the end of the game. It's just tough. We'll never know what happened."
Green Bay Packers linebacker Micah Parsons -- who has never hidden his affection for Quinn, his former defensive coordinator with Dallas -- offered a scathing review of Daniels on his podcast this week.
"Jayden Daniels probably cost my man Dan Quinn his job," Parsons said. "… I'm a defensive player, and this (stuff's) programmed to me. I know what to do in those situations. There's no way I'm taking a sack with 14 seconds left and no timeouts. … Mind you, it'd be different if Jayden Daniels was a rookie. This is your third year."
Daniels acknowledged Thursday that he saw some of the outside criticism, but family and friends saw more of it and regularly checked on him in the days afterward. Daniels also relied on the support of his teammates, including backup quarterback Marcus Mariota, to learn from his mistake and begin to shift focus to the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night.
"I can't say (the criticism is) not warranted because of what happened," he said. "… Marcus kind of told me -- I'm not gonna say I'm one of the greats, but he told me every great one has been through adversity in their career. And you gotta deal with it. You gotta learn from it and move forward and not dwell on it and let it affect you. Obviously, as a competitor, as a person, you feel like you let everybody around you down. But I have a great team and people in the locker room who have my back and uplift me in those moments. And ultimately, I'm the one that has to take ownership of it and move forward from it."
The frustration and disappointment among players and coaches was palpable Sunday. Right guard Sam Cosmi threw off his helmet and kicked the grass as he walked back toward the stadium tunnel.
Quinn furiously threw off his headset and stood alone on the 25-yard line, his hands on his hips as he seemingly tried to process the debacle. He blamed himself when addressing reporters after the game, then doubled down in his news conference the next day and again Thursday morning.
"I'll continue to take responsibility, first off, for the situation," Quinn said when asked whether he has spoken to offensive coordinator David Blough about the botched play. "But I'm also saying yes, it has been dissected, discussed and corrected internally. And that's where we'll stay."
Without providing specifics, Quinn said he will tweak parts of the team's weekly preparation and its process during the game to try to eliminate any chance of another costly clock-management gaffe.
Yet the outcome Sunday was egregious enough to raise questions about Quinn's job security and led to outside calls for his firing. On Monday, Quinn said he spoke with owner Josh Harris before and after the Giants game, just as he does every week, but did not provide details about their conversation.
"Don't even put it on the coaches," Daniels said Thursday. "I got to be aware, more aware, go out there and manage the game, right? And I did not do that. So it doesn't matter what happens on the sideline between the coaches or anything like that. I got to know everything that's happening, and make sure that we're in the right situation with the football game."
Daniels was among multiple Commanders players to praise Quinn amid the barrage of criticism, saying, "We love DQ here."
Added veteran running back Austin Ekeler: "I say this all the time: If I were to be head coach, I'd want to be like Dan Quinn because of the way he gets buy-in from the team. Regardless of what the result is, I know that Dan Quinn's gonna shoot us straight. He's gonna tell it like it is, win or lose, and he's going to get us ready to go and get us mentally ready to prepare for the next week."
Such was Quinn's focus Thursday as the Commanders held their first practice in preparation for their meeting with the 49ers in Santa Clara, Calif., on Monday night.
His message to players was less about last week's gaffe and more about the opportunity ahead. Roughly two-thirds of the season remains, he reminded them, offering plenty of time to turn things around.
"The sky's not falling right now," Cosmi said. "We got a lot of football, I think, like you said, 70 percent of football games to go. So, like I said, we put our head down and keep working. We learn from our mistakes and push forward. We have all the opportunities to win the division."
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
