Commanders coach Dan Quinn bloodied in sideline collision with Marcus Mariota

LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — A clear bandage covered the cut on the bridge of Washington Commanders coach Dan Quinn's nose, and blood stained his nostrils and his goatee's white whiskers — remnants of a sideline collision with his quarterback, Marcus Mariota, late in the first half of Sunday's 41-24 win over Las Vegas.

“We all had a good laugh about it, for sure,” said Quinn, who said he was evaluated by doctors and did not need stitches.

What did it feel like to get slammed into by a 6-foot-4, 222-pound NFL player running with a head of steam?

“Probably like you’d expect,” Quinn said. “Don’t want it to happen.”

The play that left Quinn's face looking more like it belonged to an athlete than a coach came with less than 10 seconds left in the second quarter. Mariota got shoved out of bounds at the end of a short run and slammed into Quinn, who fell backward and slammed the back of his head on the ground.

Several players rushed over to check on Quinn.

“I felt so bad. I was trying to hold him up as much as I could. But he bounced up like champ,” said Mariota, who made his first NFL start since 2022, replacing the injured Jayden Daniels.

“He went into the training room (at halftime) and got bandaged up,” said Mariota, who dusted off his coach with a towel, “and was like, ‘All right. Let’s keep going.’ I think that’s what really kind of got the guys going.”

Quinn wiped blood from his face as he walked to the locker room with a 20-10 lead after Washington's Matt Gay made a 56-yard field goal on the last play of the first half.

“Man, it just represents who he is, to be honest. He talks about it all the time, just his mentality. And it's literally: You get knocked down, get back up and keep going. He literally did that. His nose was bleeding. Everything’s bleeding. Had a cut. He stayed in, locked in,” Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner said about Quinn, who was his defensive coordinator years ago when both were with the Seattle Seahawks.

“Everything that he preaches to us, we feel like we saw that in that moment. He got knocked down. Got hit pretty hard. He ain’t go no pads on. Nothing. He came back up,” Wagner said. “It was kind of like a movie. While he was getting treatment, we weren’t sure he was going to be able to come out. And so, we’re gathering everybody. I’m getting ready to speak, and then he comes out of nowhere, and (says), ‘I got it!’ That was a cool moment. I’ll remember that forever, for sure.”

Asked to relay what Quinn's message was to the players at halftime, Wagner smiled.

“I don’t know if I can repeat those words,” Wagner replied. “Very colorful.”

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Las Vegas Raiders Pete Carroll, left, and Washington Commanders Dan Quinn talk after an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Washington Commanders Dan Quinn speaks during a news conference after an NFL football game against the Las Vegas Raiders, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Washington Commanders Dan Quinn is run into on the sideline during the first half of NFL football game against the Las Vegas Raiders, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Washington Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota (8) runs with the ball during the first half of NFL football game against the Las Vegas Raiders, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn watches from the sidelines during the second half of an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Matt Ludtke)

PHOENIX (AP) — When Jennifer Rizzotti arrived at UConn as a player in 1992, the expectations around the school, as well as the women's basketball landscape, were much different than they are today.

Geno Auriemma was only in his eighth season coaching the Huskies. UConn hadn't yet hoisted a national championship trophy. There wasn't nearly the same pressure to win that the Huskies face now. And women's basketball as a whole hadn't seen the unprecedented growth in sponsorships and popularity it is experiencing now.

By the 1994-95 season, Rizzotti and fellow UConn standout Rebecca Lobo helped the Huskies go undefeated en route to their first national title. Everything about the program changed, and even as women's basketball has evolved and skyrocketed in exposure, the Huskies have remained the gold standard.

“There was no thought that we were going to be undefeated,” Rizzotti said. “We didn't have that internal pressure. We didn't have external pressure. That's the last time a UConn team could play that way. Think about that: 1995 is the last time a UConn team could play without that kind of pressure.”

The Huskies have since won 12 national titles, reached the Final Four 25 times and won 30 conference titles. They've been ranked 653 weeks in The Associated Press women's basketball poll, and Auriemma is the winningest coach in women's college basketball history.

As conversations around the Final Four in Phoenix center around how the women's game has grown, the Huskies, who are competing for the second straight national title, have been at the forefront.

“You could tell that everything was aligned for this program to reach that pinnacle," said Rizzotti, who is currently the president of the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun. “I don't think anything of us would have predicted that it would have gone on as it had.”

Rizzotti joined former UConn players Stefanie Dolson, currently with the WNBA's Washington Mystics, and Shea Ralph, now Vanderbilt's coach, on a panel Friday at “The AP Top 25 Fan Poll Experience,” which is being held at Arizona State’s First Amendment Forum in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Earlier Friday, Big East commissioner Val Ackerman, former Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) commissioner Rich Ensor and AP women’s poll founder Mel Greenberg spoke on a panel moderated by college basketball analyst Debbie Antonelli on the growth of women's basketball at the college and pro levels.

“I think women's basketball has never been more popular,” said Ackerman, who was the first president of the WNBA from 1996-2005. “I think schools that are succeeding are really seeing, feeling and believing in the (return on investment). And UConn's a case in point.”

Ackerman sees the investment that the schools in this year's Final Four — UConn, Texas, South Carolina, and UCLA — have made in their programs to reach back-to-back national semifinals as a reflection of the growing importance of pouring resources into women's hoops.

“And that's done a world of good,” she added. “Programs like South Carolina, UCLA, you see what they're doing for their campuses. The investment is paying off in terms of the brand and engagement with the community and school reputation.”

Even as women's sports are drawing record crowds and WNBA players are set to make more money than ever, Ensor sees much more room to capitalize on this current growth.

“It has been about breaking down barriers, and they still exist,” Ensor said. “We marvel at what's happened, but we still recognize there's a lot more that's to come.”

AP Top 25 Fan Poll Experience: https://apnews.com/https:/apnews.com/projects/arizona-state-fan-poll-experience/

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

FILE - Connecticut's Breanna Stewart, left, drives to the basket as Cincinnati's Maya Benham, right, defends during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016, in Storrs, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)

From left, Debbie Antonelli, Val Ackerman, Rich Ensor and Mel Greenberg sit on a panel during an event Friday, April 3, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Val Ackerman, commissioner of the Big East Conference, listens during an event Friday, April 3, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/John Locher)

UConn head coach Geno Auriemma reacts after his team defeated Notre Dame in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, March 29, 2026, in Fort Worth, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)