Dan Quinn addresses Commanders' release of Brandon McManus

The Washington Commanders’ head coach, Dan Quinn, recently spoke about the release of placekicker Brandon McManus.

McManus was let go by the team in light of recent sexual assault allegations filed against him. Just ahead of their scheduled OTA on Wednesday, Quinn did his best to answer questions surrounding the release.

“Number one, I think you guys would all understand; this is under investigation. So, I can’t comment a lot,” opened Quinn. “But what I can say is a little bit about what I told the team. Like most things not necessarily related to this, as a lesson, let’s make sure you always let somebody know and tell. There’s usually a whole bunch of people that want to be part of the solution. When you have that, whether that’s for this team or any team or parent, that kind of communication allows you to come up with some solutions.”

“It was just a good lesson to always have that conversation. It’s usually much more difficult in your head than it is really having the actual conversation. So just wanted to make sure I got a lesson out to the guys as we’re going through it. We did release Brandon; I found out some of the information on May 27th, and then we released him on June 3rd.”

McManus signed a one-year deal worth $3.6 million with Washington on March 14. At that time, Quinn said he was unaware of the charges filed against the Commanders’ placekicker. According to the Washington head coach, he was made aware of some of the information on May 27, three days after the charges were filed against McManus.

Commanders release McManus after sexual assault allegations

McManus is being accused of sexual assault by two flight attendants. The team announced the news on Sunday night, a little over a week after the lawsuit was filed in Duval County in Jacksonville, Florida.

McManus signed with the Commanders in March after spending the 2023 season with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The alleged incident happened when McManus was with the Jaguars last year when the team was traveling to London for an international game in September. The first woman accused McManus of attempting to kiss her while she was performing her duties on the Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings charter flight. The second woman confronted McManus when he grinded up against her. She avoided seeing the veteran kicker again by working on the second floor of the plane.

“These are absolutely fictitious and demonstrably false allegations made as part of a campaign to defame and disparage a talented and well-respected NFL player,” McManus’ attorney, Brett R. Gallaway, said in a statement last week, per ESPN. “We intend to aggressively defend Brandon’s rights and integrity and clear his name by showing what these claims truly are — an extortion attempt.”