Dallas Cowboys’ Dan Quinn focused on fixing defense, not reunion with Atlanta Falcons
This was supposed to be old home week for two Dallas Cowboys coaches and two players.
Sunday’s matchup against the Atlanta Falcons (4-4) was anticipated to be a time of remembrance and the appreciation of new beginnings for defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, secondary coach Joe Whitt Jr., safety Damontae Kazee and linebacker Keanu Neal.
Quinn was the head coach of the Falcons for the previous six seasons, taking them to the Super Bowl in 2016, before being fired five games into the 2020 campaign after two consecutive 7-9 seasons and an 0-5 start.
Kazee was a fifth-round pick of the Falcons in 2017 and played 52 games there over four seasons before joining the Cowboys as a free agent in 2021.
Neal played the first five seasons of his career with the Falcons after being picked in the first round in 2016. He also decided to reunite with Quinn in Dallas as a free agent.
And since Quinn is the linchpin to all of them coming to the Cowboys from the Falcons, let him sum up the current sentiment about Sunday’s reunion game of sorts.
Coming off the embarrassing no-show in the 30-16 loss to the Denver Broncos, which ended the Cowboys’ six-game winning streak, he says this is no time for nostalgia and good tidings.
“You guys saw the performance [on Sunday] so there is no time to take a stroll down memory lane,” Quinn said. “We got some [stuff] to fix. So, I’ll be right where my feet are, right where I’m supposed to be going after it as hard as we can. Worry about the jerseys I coach now all throughout the week.”
Quinn’s defense, which had been a pleasant bright spot during the Cowboys’ run to six wins in seven games, had its worst performance of the season.
The Cowboys were manhandled from start to finish, allowing a season-high 190 yards rushing and recording 14 missed tackles. He is looking for his unit to be more physical against the Falcons.
“To have 14 missed tackles, that’s a lot of missed tackles,” Quinn said. “If you’re going to play defense, you’d better be good at tackling. This game, there were just too many one-person tackles for our liking. That, to me, was the story of it.
“Let’s just make sure we get back to the style and attitude that we like playing with. That’s honestly the most important thing.”
Neal and Kazee have a similar approach against their former teammates. It’s just another game, just the next opponent on their schedule.
Kazee, who has started every game in 2021 at free safety, has that mindset even though things didn’t end pleasantly for him in Atlanta.
“The only thing I remember in Atlanta is me getting hurt and me getting kicked out of rehab. That is all I remember,” said Kazee, who tore his Achilles in the fourth game of the season in 2020 and was placed on injured reserve.
It was the final year of his contract and he was set to be a free agent.
“They let me go. They told me I can’t do rehab up there no more,” Kazee said. “It surprised me because I thought I was going to finish my rehab up there. But it is what it is. The general manager said to leave. So I got my stuff and left.”
But Kazee said he holds no hard feelings. It’s just part of the business. He is glad he was able to come to Dallas and he is focused on winning Sunday, not what happened with the Falcons.
And after last week, he said the Cowboys have enough to worry about themselves.
He hasn’t talked to any of his former teammates and doesn’t plan to until after the game.
“We just need to worry about us over here,” Kazee said. “The only people in front of us that can beat us is us. That is all we need to worry about.”
To be clear, Quinn has no hard feelings about his time with the Falcons. He has great memories. He is proud of being able to take them to the Super Bowl and is grateful to owner Arthur Blank for giving him his first head coaching job.
He used the time between his firing last October and being hired by the Cowboys in January to put those sentiments in the past.
His focus is clearly on doing everything he can to help the Cowboys win and put last week’s performance in the rearview mirror.
“Yes, that’s correct,” Quinn said. “I did that. And then when I started here, I started fresh again. This is my team. This is who I’m with. And this is my crew. I will always think of the memories, but I’m where I’m supposed to be.”
