Washington Commanders Dan Quinn's First Takeaways from Preseason All About Takeaways

The aim is clear for the Washington Commanders when it comes to the ball in 2024.

Aug 10, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn looks on during the first half against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports / Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

The Washington Commanders have made no secret about their intentions on defense in 2024 and beyond under new head coach Dan Quinn and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr.

Some will say, 'ball is life', 'the ball is money', or any other number of cliches to emphasize how important the football is, but no matter what valuable image you attach it to the Commanders want it.

On the flip side, with Washington offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury's unit, they want to protect it at all costs. In their first preseason outing, coach Quinn came away both satisfied and wanting more in terms of ball security.

READ MORE: 3 Stars of Washington Commanders Preseason Opener at New York Jets

Aug 10, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn looks on during the first half against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports / Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

"Good things I liked taking care of the ball and that was one of the things that's so important to us," Quinn said following his team's 20-17 preseason loss to the New York Jets. "Conversely, on the other side, not being able to create any takeaways."

There were zero turnovers on Saturday despite the Commanders rolling out a rookie quarterback for his first start in the NFL and each team going through a combined seven different passers in the game.

Usually, with that amount of inexperience, lack of cohesion, and somewhat random football occurence, a ball is bound to be tipped, deflected, or a communication error is bound to happen that leads to an interception.

But not only did that not happen, the punch-happy Washington defense we've seen so much of in training camp was unable to create any fumbles benefitting the team's efforts either.

It's something the team will want to improve on going forward, and part of what 'Commanders defense' is supposed to look like. Hunting, pursuing, and catching prey. Prey in this case, is the ball, just to be clear in our analogies and cliches.

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READ MORE: 3 Top Plays from the Washington Commanders Preseason Loss to New York Jets

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