I agree. There's a huge difference between "I told him he's my guy whether he's the starter or not" and "I told him he's my guy, whether he's the starter or not." Brown should know better than to editorialize within quotes.
In essence, in the first case he would be expressing doubt to EJ about his starter status, while in the second Sammy would be expressing doubt to the interviewer about it (and whether that should be valid). Much more a vote of confidence to EJ in the latter case.