Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury is still familiarizing himself with his new starting quarterback Jayden Daniels, but is already seeing the stark contrast in Daniels' deameanor on and off of the football field. Commanders head coach Dan Quinn named Daniels his Week 1 starter.
And soon, fans will see that's when the vibes change for the rookie quarterback, once he steps onto the field for his first NFL game, to which Kingsbury explained about his QB, per NBC4 Sports.
“He's a pretty laid-back chill cat, but when he steps on that field…he's trying to rip your head off,” Kingsbury said. “He's talking trash to the DC and the DBs and everybody else, but it's fun-natured. But that's just watching him compete.”
Daniels will head into his first official NFL game in the Commanders' season-opening matchup next Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“When you're out in practice, you don't really see him really take off, and run, and things like that because we're not tackling him. So, just to see that competitive nature come out in his first game, it's not always going to be pretty, but, just him continuing to battle, and try to lead those guys. That will be a lot of fun for me to witness.”
Jayden Daniels prepares for NFL debut with Commanders
Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniel is no stranger to pressure. He played in front of 100,000 people in the SEC, where he earned 2023's SEC Offensive Player of the Year, AP Football Player of the Year honors, and the 2023 Heisman trophy, among other handful of awards last year at LSU.
He was drafted second overall by the Washington Commanders in this year's NFL Draft, but, ahead of his debut, is keeping himself grounded for Week 1 against the Buccaneers, per NFL.com's Zach Selby.
“Go out there and just focus where my feet are, focus on practice, focus on the day,” Daniels said. “Don't look too far ahead.”
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Staying in the moment has been his philosophy throughout training camp. In Daniels' preseason debut, he went 2-of-3 for six yards in the Commanders' 20-17 loss to the New York Jets. Then, Daniels went 10-of-12 for 78 yards in the Commanders' 13-6 loss to the Miami Dolphnis.
He threw a 42-yard pass to Dyami Brown, and a three-yard touchdown run against the Dolphins.
“Approach the day, try to get better each and every day,” Daniels said. “It's not gonna be a finished product week one, but just try to get better and go out there and go through some growing pains. As you know…you're a rookie. You're not gonna have everything perfect. You can strive for perfection, but it's not gonna be perfect.”
The Buccaneers host the Commanders on Sunday.
