profootballtalk
During the first half of Monday night's matchup, the Washington Commanders faced a fourth-and-two from the San Francisco 13-yard line. The play resulted in an incomplete pass to the end zone, and the Commanders were flagged for an illegal shift. ESPN cameras then captured head coach Dan Quinn appearing to react with surprise upon learning it was fourth down.
Nearly an hour after the game concluded, Quinn met with reporters and was prepared for questions about the viral lip-reading moment. "I definitely knew it was fourth down," Quinn stated. He elaborated that his reaction was likely about the illegal shift penalty and the ensuing confusion over whether a field goal was possible. "We were going for it, and I think what you're referring to, I was probably saying, like, with the illegal shift, there's not a penalty to go for a field goal. Like, it doesn't go, like, it's the turn on downs. Like, I think somebody asked me, 'Can we kick a field goal?' So, now we were going for it."
Quinn emphasized that the decision to go for it on fourth down was intentional, given the expected high-scoring nature of the game. "We knew we had to go for some fourth downs to be bold in the game. I didn't think it was gonna be a 17-14 game. I probably thought it was gonna need 28, 30 to score, you know, to go win it. And so it was by design that we were gonna go, but I knew what happened." He also mentioned that quarterback Jayden Daniels noticed the foul as well. "I think, I probably was just commenting that I remember, at least on the headset, somebody asked me, after an illegal shift, like it was turnover on downs, and Jayden saw the foul, too. He also came out and saw the penalty."
Despite Quinn's explanation, the clip appears to show genuine surprise rather than a statement of fact. It seems Quinn had his story ready by the time he reached the podium, with ample time after the game to craft it. Given the events of the previous week, Quinn likely felt compelled to deny any confusion about the down, even if he truly was unsure in the moment.
Originally reported by profootballtalk.