Commanders Players

Terry McLaurin, WR

(On the offense)

“As an offense we have to continue to figure out how to be better in ‘got-to-have’ situations. As an offense we like to finish with the ball in our hands. We don’t want to have to have our defense back out there. When we get in the red zone we have to score touchdowns. As we progress, we’ve got to continue to build on what we did well, but also figure out how to be better in those critical areas.”

(On Sam Howell)

“I think he’s doing a great job getting the ball out of his hands, he’s using his legs. I feel like it’s giving the defense another element of his game that they have to prepare for. I think his ball placement has been really good. You can just tell he is continuing to get comfortable in this offense. He’s getting comfortable in the looks that he’s getting, and you can tell he’s getting very decisive in his choices out there.”

(On Howell’s 23-yard run)

“That was just a hell of a play by him honestly to get that first down. We tried to block downfield. I think we did a great job on the scramble drill today. We had guys getting open down the field and he does a great job of keeping his eyes down the field, which is one of the better attributes that he’s developed over the season. When you have to account for a guy who can throw the ball down the field and get first downs using his legs, it puts a lot of pressure on the defense.”

(On the receivers)

“I think we all had a hand in it, from JC [Jamison Crowder] to Pringle, myself and Jahan [Dotson], even Dyami [Brown] came in and stepped up. We had some over the first half that if we made those plays it would put more pressure on their defense. We’ve got to find ways to make those plays.”

Jahan Dotson, WR

(On his touchdown)

“It was a big play, we needed it. Sam [Howell] did a great job. He saw cover zero. We’ve been working on it all week. He gave me a chance to make a play for the team. I was able to capitalize.”

(On losing teammates at the trade deadline)

“It’s been tough, obviously, losing two brothers that we love so much, that we miss a lot. We had to come out and work this week. It’s a business. It’s next man up. You have to go and take care of what is supposed to be taken care of on Sundays and that’s what we did today. It was a big win for us.”

(On Sam Howell)

“He does it all. He makes big plays when we need them the most. That long third-down conversion run, that was big for us, we needed that. The big time throws he makes, he does it all for us. We’re super happy to have a guy like him at quarterback in our offense.”

(On the receivers)

“We know in this room, receiver-wise, that down the stretch we are going to be the ones who need to make the plays for this team to get us going and get us over that hump to victory. Guys just made plays all day.”

Jamison Crowder, WR

(On the win)

“Any win is a good win. To come in and win on the road is big. It’s important as a team. We lost a tough one last week. To come into Foxborough and get the win, it’s huge. We just take them one game and one day at a time. Any win is a good win.”

(On Sam Howell’s third down run)

“It was great, for sure it was great. Sam is a competitor. He gives us a chance to win every week. That was huge. You see guys making plays like that, you want to follow suit and get onboard. Go out there and give it your all.”

Emmanuel Forbes, CB

(On working his way back after being benched)

“That was new. Something I had to learn and grow from it.”

(On what he learned from it)

“Honestly, not taking it personal. Going to work every day to work and get better at my craft.”

(On staying locked in)

“It’s not hard. Go out there and play football. Know the situation is two minutes. Know what they are trying to run and what they are trying to accomplish.”

(On if he felt this would be a big week)

“I go into every game thinking I’m going to make plays and do my job. It wasn’t anything different, I went and did my job.”

Tyler Larsen, C

(On Sam Howell’s leadership)

“He’s got that leadership in him. He’s more comfortable bringing it out on the football field once we crossed that line.”

(On when he sees that leadership in action)

“As soon as the game starts. He’s got that confidence once he comes into the huddle. He’s not the most vocal guy. You can feel it once he come into the huddle.”

(On the importance of this victory)

“It’s huge. Especially being 3-6, now we’re 4-5. That sounds a lot better than 3-6. Obviously, we want to build on this. Next week we got a good opponent on the west coast. We have to ride this win and keep going.”

(On the team’s confidence in Sam Howell when the team needs a score)

“We’re confident. We’ve got the weapons in the huddle. We got Sam under center. We just got to keep pushing, we know he’s going to do it.”

Kendall Fuller, CB

(On the play of the defense)

“We just played team ball. We all just played together. We relied on one another. Everybody played with good energy. We did pretty good on third down. Ultimately making big plays when we needed them and winning situational football. We just played tight coverage and made some plays. We keep playing with confidence and keep competing. Having young guys make plays on the field raised our energy.”

(On Sam Howell’s third down run)

“That was big. That set the tone and the energy for the offense. Sam has (rallied us) all year and that is what we rely on him to do. It was definitely a big play for our team.”

Joey Slye, K

(On his field goals)

“We hit the field goal [to get ahead 20-17] with about ten minutes left, so it was obviously a go-ahead field goal, but that was not really a game winner. Our defense and our special teams helped us out. It felt good to get the ball through the uprights when we had to. That game gets chalked up to our defense, that’s for sure. They took care of the end of that game.”

(On Sam Howell’s third down scramble)

“We were looking at possibly punting. He got hit at the 40 and I honestly thought he was going to go down there. I was getting ready to jog out there for the field goal. I’ve seen him since college, it’s not surprising.”

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