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Commanders’ DC Joe Whitt Jr. Breaks Silence on Playcalling Change

The Washington Commanders have endured a nightmarish 2025 campaign to this point. After advancing all the way to the 2024 NFC Championship Game last season, the expectation was that the Commanders would be one of the top teams in the league. Instead, they have crawled out to a 3-7 record through their first 10 games.

A lot has gone wrong for Washington, and changes have already begun to be made. One of the bigger ones saw Dan Quinn appoint himself the team’s new defensive playcaller, taking that role away from his defensive coordinator, Joe Whitt Jr. On Friday, Whitt addressed the surprising change, and he made his thoughts very clear on Quinn’s decision.

Joe Whitt Jr. Addresses Dan Quinn’s Major Change

When Quinn was hired to be the Commanders’ new head coach in 2024, he quickly tabbed Whitt to be his defensive coordinator. Quinn and Whitt worked together during their time with the Atlanta Falcons and the Dallas Cowboys, so they obviously have quite a bit of familiarity with each other.

Quinn and Whitt helped turn Washington’s defense into one of the most underrated units in the league in 2024. While Jayden Daniels and the offense turned heads, it’s worth noting they were complemented quite well by an opportunistic defense that found ways to pressure opposing quarterbacks and force turnovers.

In 2025, neither of those things has happened. Washington is struggling to do much of anything right, and while the offense has managed to hold its own, even with Daniels rotating in and out of the lineup due to a slew of injuries, it hasn’t mattered because of how bad the defense has been. That resulted in Quinn taking over the team’s defensive playcalling duties starting in Week 10, and ahead of the Commanders’ upcoming game, Whitt opened up on that big decision.

“I’ve been in this business long enough, and at the end of the day, it’s about winning and about producing,” Whitt said on Friday. “We’ve yet to do that this year. It wasn’t necessarily anything that I was necessarily shocked by. We’re here to win. No different than if you move a player in and out, sometimes that happens in coaching.”

Commanders Hoping Defense Can Figure Things Out in Week 11

Dan Quinn

Todd Kirkland/GettyATLANTA, GEORGIA – SEPTEMBER 28: Head coach Dan Quinn of the Washington Commanders looks on during the third quarter against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on September 28, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)

Quinn calling plays didn’t change the Commanders’ fortunes, as they ended up allowing the Detroit Lions to drop 44 points on them. It is worth noting that the Lions feature one of the best offenses in the league, but Washington’s defense never put up any sort of fight in this one. Simply put, it won’t matter who is calling plays if the guys on the field can’t get their act together.

The good news for the Commanders is that they will have a better shot at getting on the right path in Week 11, as they draw a matchup against a struggling Miami Dolphins team. While the Dolphins did just hand the Buffalo Bills a shocking upset in Week 10, their offense has been a mess for much of the 2025 campaign. With this game taking place in Madrid, Spain, kickoff is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. ET on Sunday morning.

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This article was originally published on Heavy Sports

The post Commanders’ DC Joe Whitt Jr. Breaks Silence on Playcalling Change appeared first on Heavy Sports.

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