Quez Watkins’ fumble costs the Eagles in a loss to the Commanders
Ball security has been a focus for the Eagles, but one slip up and Watkins saw his 50-yard reception become a fourth-quarter turnover.
The auditorium located inside the Eagles’ NovaCare Complex is equipped with nearly 200 seats. The space is typically reserved for team meetings. It’s here where coach Nick Sirianni implements his daily teaching points during early morning presentations.
This past week, the auditorium received a couple of eye-popping additions by the way of two large posters that were each placed high on opposite walls that surround the center stage.
The pair of signs have the words “BALL SECURITY” inscribed in bold letters. They’re accompanied with photos of several Eagles — wide receiver DeVonta Smith, tight end Dallas Goedert, and running back Miles Sanders — exuding picturesque ball security. Through this messaging, the coaches preach for players to grasp the football with an “Eagle claw,” while keeping the “wrist high” and “elbow locked.”
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Ahead of Monday’s game involving the Eagles and Commanders, Sirianni revealed these specific posters were already located in multiple rooms throughout the team’s headquarters. Unfortunately for Eagles wide receiver Quez Watkins, those traits were not on display during the team’s Week 10 matchup at Lincoln Financial Field.
With the Eagles searching for a spark and the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter, quarterback Jalen Hurts dialed up a deep shot to Watkins.
Hurts delivered a near-perfect, high-arcing throw that fell into the hands of Watkins — the speedster had already taken the top off of Washington’s defense. After Watkins secured the 50-yard reception, his momentum brought him to the ground. Aware that he hadn’t been touched by a pair of trailing defensive backs, Watkins attempted to get back on his feet and accelerate upfield. Just a few steps later, he was dragged down by cornerback Benjamin St-Juste. During the hectic sequence, Watkins lost control of the football and gifted the Commanders with a momentum-changing turnover.
“You get so many opportunities to win,” fellow wide receiver A.J. Brown said. “I think that was probably the last opportunity. We gave the game away so many times.”
Watkins’ turnover was just one of many miscues committed by the Eagles, who suffered their first defeat of the season with their 32-21 loss to the Commanders.
“I was just trying to make a play for the team,” Watkins said. “I knew I had left dude behind. I was trying to get extra yards, just get what I could get. I felt like I had enough room to get up and move.
“Honestly, I didn’t have good ball security. It’s what we’re taught, and I didn’t have it. It cost us. I take the blame for that one.”
Entering Week 10, the Eagles boasted the NFL’s best turnover differential. Through eight games, the team had committed a league-low three turnovers.
On Monday, though, the Eagles more than doubled their season turnover total with four turnovers (three fumbles lost, one interception) against the Commanders.
“I was hoping I was touched before I fumbled,” Watkins said. “But I knew I wasn’t touched and I didn’t have good ball security. I have to do what we’re taught, get up with good ball security, I need to make sure there aren’t [defenders] around us if I’m running [recklessly]. The biggest thing is having good ball security.”
Upon returning to the sideline, Watkins was approached by several teammates who attempted to lift his spirits. His fumble occurred shortly with less than six minutes left in the final quarter, so it didn’t necessarily mark the end for the Eagles. They wound up with one more drive that quickly ended in a three-and-out.
In reality, though, the outcome might’ve been decided much earlier, as described by Brown.
“It’s one of them things,” Brown said. “I was just trying to tell Quez, ‘It’s all right, man. This ... ain’t on you. It was going downhill much earlier. It ain’t on you.’ He tried to make a play, and he made a play. But they made a better play. They’re professionals, too. I hope nobody thought we were invincible or anything. We’re human, man. You only get so many opportunities to win.”
After placing those ball security posters across various team meeting rooms, Sirianni attempted to take some of the blame away from Watkins. He spoke at length about the turnover that swiped the team’s pristine opportunity at extending its perfect season.
“That’s something that we talk about and we think about, you’re susceptible getting up off the ground,” Sirianni said. “You want to teach him to be aggressive, and if he’s not seeing behind him, then get up off the ground, maybe run for a touchdown. We are also aware that the defense is taught to take a swipe at that ball when you are getting up off the ground kind of the same way as when you’re going to the ground. The ball is loose sometimes when you’re that way.
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“We have to do a better job of coaching that. We have to think of a drill to do that. We talk about it, but obviously we didn’t execute it today. As a coach, you put yourself in that situation first and say, ‘How do I fix that?’ So, we’ll have to [create] a drill where we’re getting up off the ground, protecting it, and if there are bodies around us, we have to stay down on the ground.
“We talk about [ball security], but I didn’t put Quez in that scenario in drills. We’ll get better from this as coaches, and I know Quez will, as well.”