It’s all about bouncing back this week for the Dallas Cowboys. They returned to practice on Wednesday to begin the task of washing off the stench of their loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 9, hoping to use Week 10 as a springboard to get back to their winning ways. That said, there’s no lack of motivation in Dallas, but who they’re about to run up against provides even more pressure to get the job done — at least for defensive coordinator Dan Quinn and several others in particular.
Quinn was fired as Falcons head coach during the 2020 season after the club got off to another disappointing 0-5 start, and it was the Cowboys that helped deliver the kill shot to his time in North Georgia. The infamous “watermelon kick” orchestrated by special teams coordinator John “Bones” Fassel and executed masterfully by kicker Greg Zuerlein helped cap a Cowboys comeback at AT&T Stadium in a 40-39 loss by the Falcons.
He’d land in North Texas immediately following the season, and in a few days he’ll get a shot at redemption for how things ended with the Falcons although, to his credit, that’s not what he’s focused on. At least, not publicly, with Quinn making it clear he’s simply hellbent on avoiding a repeat of Week 9.
“Well, I think, one, I have great memories for there and I always will and I think a lot of the really cool things that we accomplished there — and there were a lot of them — versus how it ended,” said Quinn. “And I think that’s an important declaration. I’ll certainly forever grateful to [owner Arthur Blank] to give me the opportunity there and to all of the players I had the privilege to coach. But you guys saw the performance [vs. the Broncos], so there is no time to take a stroll down memory lane.
“We got some sh– 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.”
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Quinn admitted things will be bittersweet this weekend, however, but also in his belief that everything happens for a reason.
“When I started here, I started fresh again,” he added. “So that’s to me why there was some separation. I wasn’t there three weeks ago. 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.”
Quinn isn’t the only person in the building with a shot at sending a message to the Falcons, by the way.
There’s also safety Damontae Kazee and safety-turned-linebacker Keanu Neal, both of whom followed Quinn to the Cowboys once the doors to 2021 free agency flew open. Additionally, Quinn brought over Aden Durde to coach up the defensive line in Dallas and Joe Whitt Jr. as defensive passing game coordinator. That’s quite of bit of former black and red now donning the blue and white but, for his part, Kazee says he could not care less about the fact it’s the Falcons they’re facing this Sunday. For him, similar to Quinn’s thought process, it’s about lining up and winning for four quarters.
“They are he next team on our schedule,” he said on Wednesday. “That is how I am treating it.”
Kazee is laser-focused to the point he hasn’t spoken with any of his former teammates, outside of the one that’s still a current teammate (Neal), because he believes it serves him no purpose to fraternize with an enemy he’s trying to defeat in a few days.
“We just need to worry about us over here,” he said. “The only people in front of us that can beat us is us. That is all we need to worry about.”
Fair enough, but there’s a bit of insider trading available here for the Cowboys — considering all mentioned have direct knowledge of how to defend against players like Matt Ryan and any others who aren’t new to the Falcons roster for 2021.
“I think it can help on really both sides because you have some knowledge of the player,” said Quinn. “Now, what I don’t know, I haven’t been all the way through their schemes yet, I can’t help on that side of things, but just a speed or technique or skill or player, you can certainly give insight to that. It’s almost like a scout would because you have knowledge of that.”
Things will be nothing short of interesting this coming Sunday, and not simply for what’s happening on the field, but also in how several winding roads led everyone involved to this destination.
