Commanders defensive coordinator makes surprising admission

Sometimes in life you think you really understand what happened…

But then you learn a few more pieces of the puzzle, and then you realize you had it all wrong.

So it was with the announcement that Washington Commanders defensive coordinator Joe Whitt was moving down to the sidelines. The Commanders‘ defense has been horrible, leaving receivers so wide open, time and time again. With the fourth consecutive loss Sunday against Seattle, the defense surrendered four touchdowns in the Seahawks‘ first four possessions.

Surely, head coach Dan Quinn had seen enough and went to Whitt to tell him he needed a significant change, because the way the defense had been playing was completely unacceptable. Whitt’s current modus operandi was mostly ineffective. Surely Quinn told him he wanted Whitt down on the sideline beginning this week vs Detroit. Surely Quinn expressed that Whitt needed to be interacting with his defensive personnel on the field when the Commanders’ offense had possession of the ball.

But no, I had it wrong…. all wrong!

Thursday, Whitt opened his weekly press conference, informing the media that he was the one who went to Quinn to ask if he could make the change to the sideline on game days. Whitt explained he preferred being up in the press box because of the better view of an entire defense and personnel changes the offense might be making.

Dan Quinn shared what can be gained by moving DC Joe Whitt Jr. to the sidelines. https://t.co/zz5b1MneDBpic.twitter.com/XTTPhYfJq4

— Commanders Wire (@Washington_Wire) November 6, 2025

Then Whitt added, “A couple of guys have been asking for me to come down as well. And so, I think it’s time for that to happen. We gotta do whatever we have to do to get a win. And so, the play has not been, especially this last week, to the standard at all. And like I said, that starts with me. I gotta do a better job getting the coaches to get the players to understand how we’re going to do it.”

Wow, so this was not what I “knew” it to be at all. This was not initiated by Dan Quinn, not at all. This was not a matter of Dan Quinn officially informing his defensive coordinator; terrible situations call for at least some sort of change. It was also not a matter of Dan Quinn mandating a change for Whitt’s method on game days.

Now, I don’t know what to make of this new development either.

This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Washington Commanders: DC Joe Whitt makes surprising admission

Source: Sports Yahoo