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Sep 7, 2025; Landover, Maryland, USA; Washington Commanders defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw (99) celebrates after a play during the first quarter against the New York Giants at Northwest Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images Peter Casey-Imagn Images

Commanders' lineman had a 3-word response that says it all

Originally posted on Washington Commanders on SI
By David Harrison | Last updated Nov 11, 2025 9:00 AM ET

The adage goes that if you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all. Similarly, one picture can tell 1,000 words. Similarly, three words can say even more, and when Washington Commanders’ defensive lineman Javon Kinlaw said his, they spoke volumes.

Following the Commanders’ fifth-straight loss and seventh defeat of the season, it was no surprise to find players in the locker room not exactly overjoyed to speak to the media about yet another letdown performance.

However, like most, Kinlaw turned and faced the crowd of curious people, holding their microphones, recorders, phones, and cameras. And when Kinlaw was asked about how the season, his first with Washington, is stacking up to the expectations he had coming in, he only had three things to say: “Next question, man.”

Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

An Admission by Omission

Kinlaw is big on respect and believes that even in the most challenging times, it's essential to treat each other with a modicum of human decency. Now, we don’t know that he took the question disrespectfully, or simply didn’t want to lie to the reporter who asked it, thus being disrespectful to himself and the person on the other end of the sports coverage.

Regardless, the three-word non-answer wasn’t a simple ‘no comment,’ but an admission by omission of what we all already knew. No, this is not what he, or anyone for that matter, expected.

The 'Darkness' of a Losing Streak

“It's all coming from that, from the frustration, the angst, that feeling, the darkness of it all. Yeah, no one saw that obviously coming about where we're at,” head coach Dan Quinn said after the Commanders' loss to the Lions, a 20+ point beatdown.

“[I] visited with the team and we make a big deal about, you know, our Commander standards and we sure as hell aren't coaching or playing up to it. We're way off and that's up to us to fix that,” Quinn also said. “We're all obviously disappointed, like just execution... we all are baffled, frustrated, all of that. You know, like all those emotions, it's accurate... play style, identity, like all that feels off.”

Kinlaw knows who he is and who he wants to be for and with his Washington teammates. He also knows that no amount of complaining to the media about their problems will fix things.

Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Not Defeated, Just Done Talking

So, while some may read the three-word answer and think he’s a man defeated in totality, not just a player after a bad game, we don’t believe that to be true. In fact, it’s the exact opposite.

Kinlaw was flagged for a personal foul one play after teammate Daron Payne was ejected for striking a Detroit player. He was penalized for trying to stick up for his teammate and took it a bit too far.

He knows he can’t cross that line again, and Payne surely knows the mistake in his decision as well, even if the punishment for the total picture feels one-sided. But make no mistake, there’s no quit in one of the Commanders’ newest linemen. The refusal to answer the question is as much about making it the place he expected Washington to be as it is about not allowing the negativity to dominate his mindset moving forward.

Focusing on solutions and avoiding being bogged down by problems is the only way the Commanders can hope to move forward with success. Even then, none of it is promised.