What Commanders' Dan Quinn told Jayden Daniels about viral blunder in loss to 49ers

Shortly after the Washington Commanders suffered a 23-17 loss at the San Francisco 49ers that dropped Washington to 1-4-1 on Monday night, Commanders head coach Dan Quinn insisted that he knew his offense was facing a 4th-and-2 situation in the game's second quarter when quarterback Jayden Daniels curiously threw a pass away for a turnover on downs. 

While speaking with reporters on Tuesday, Quinn revealed what he said to Daniels about that viral moment. 

Dan Quinn believes Monday's moment can be a learning experience for Jayden Daniels

"Even when you know there's a penalty, you still take your shot, man, to go throw it, complete it," Quinn explained, per John Keim of ESPN. "You don't know if [the flag is] gonna get picked up."

Specifically, Daniels threw the ball away after he saw a flag had been thrown. However, the penalty was an illegal shift on the Commanders that would have negated a successful play for the visitors.

"I didn't know. It could have been offside. It could have been on us," Daniels said about spotting the flag. 

Quinn and Daniels previously received criticism following the much-discussed time-management fiasco late in the Commanders' 27-27 Week 5 tie against the rival New York Giants. While Quinn was the subject of hot-seat rumors even before that debacle, there was no indication as of Wednesday morning that he was going to be fired amid the Commanders' Week 7 bye. 

Dan Quinn saw positives, negatives from Jayden Daniels' performance against 49ers

The Commanders trailed the 49ers 23-3 in the third quarter before Daniels helped produce what Quinn likely hopes will become a season-changing rally for the NFC East side. In total, Daniels completed 29-of-40 passes for 300 yards and two touchdowns on a night when Washington star wide receiver Terry McLaurin suffered a season-ending knee injury.

"Like most things with him, there's some plays that you said, 'That's an incredible throw,'" Quinn added. "And there's other ones I'd love him to stay through the [read]."

For now, Quinn is on track to serve as the Commanders' head coach for their home game against the Philadelphia Eagles (2-4) on Nov. 1.