Austin Ekeler told Grant & Danny Tuesday, in his final segment of the season, that the Commanders’ campaign was ‘a great journey,’ and while the mindset was to ‘just continue to hunt’ as they had in Detroit and Tampa, things ‘didn’t end the way we wanted them to.’
And so, the rubber match this season ended in Philly’s favor, and the Eagles are headed to the Super Bowl while the Commanders have cleaned out their lockers and headed home for the season.
“When you get to this point in the season, you are who you are, and you hang your hat on that, for the most part. You're gonna live or die by that,” Ekeler told the guys. “So it wasn’t anything crazy that they did that we weren't expecting or anything like that, it was just on that day, they were better.”
Ekeler gave his reasons why, but there will be a whole offseason to digest and dissect the final 60 minutes of the year – but, as it’s fresh in the short term, how do the players juxtapose that ending with the surprise that was a 12-5 season and a run to the NFC Title Game?
“It sucks; for us as competitors, being in the building, especially when you have a lot of guys that weren't here in the previous year – and even if you were, every time you have a new season, it's a new mindset that we're gonna go the distance – to get that close and go out like that with a pretty brutal beating, it stings,” Ekeler said. “It stings whether it’s a close game or not, because you’re so close to being a world champion. Knowing how much goes into it, being in Year 8, knowing teams are different every year, that weight will hold on to me for a while. You can have high expectations and kind of flatline, or be like we were where there's low expectations but we actually superseded those, but you never know how the game's gonna play out, and it’s a journey every single time.”
Ekeler likely won’t be able to watch the Super Bowl, as it’s ‘a double-dip of teams I don’t want to win the thing,’ and it’ll take some time for him, until he gets into a different day-to-day routine, until he’s really over it – which is how he is pretty much every season, but there will ‘always be a little piece that will always remember what it felt like to be in that moment and lose that way.’
And as he gave G&D a little insight on some of the things that went wrong in the NFC Championship Game – including his fumble, where he admitted he needs to do better – Ekeler, who will be back under contract next year, gave some thoughts on what the team can take from this experience as they move forward into 2025.
“When you have a new core group of guys come in like we did and a new coaching staff, they bring in the new philosophy. So, something that's gonna carry over will be the standard of the team,” Ekeler said. “The expectation of this team now is at a new level internally because we now know our capabilities, so having a new core group with new philosophies and that are gonna be here for a second year, I think we're really in a position to build off of what we've done this year. It won’t be the same team, but it will have the Dan Quinn flavor, Jayden’s coming back and we’ll have our offensive identity, and I think we really solidified that this year.”
Kliff Kingsbury is coming back, but some assistants may leave and some players definitely will, so it’s all about the fact that now that the tone is set, find a way to keep it up.
“Look at the teams that have been there and done that, like the old Patriots or the Chiefs now – once you find a chemistry that works, I hope ownership is doing everything to really hold on to that, because it's rare. You see the shuffle every year, but that’s what the NFL is: how can we put the best group of men together, and support staff together, to actually push this thing forward and sustain success. I hope they do everything they can to continue to keep us in a place where we have a winning culture. There’s no guarantees, but it’s a new opportunity, so I hope we bring in good guys who buy into the vision and the brotherhood.”
But yes, as Boyz II Men once said, it is indeed hard to say goodbye to yesterday, which Ekeler did this week for the eighth time, knowing Year 9 will bring the inevitable change.
“I’m married now, so I’ll spend a lot of time with my wife as I get into the offseason routine, but definitely not seeing each other as much kind of breaks up the camaraderie that we had,” Ekeler said. “Some of us will stay in touch with each other, but that brotherhood was built on us being put in a position where we get to see each other every single day. It’s just like when you’re in school, you see your buddies every single day, and then you get older and kind of grow apart for many reasons. I’m headed back to Nevada, some guys are headed elsewhere, so it becomes a little more distant. It’s an adjustment, but just like anything, we'll take it head on and get after it.”