There were stretches of Jayden Daniels’ magical 2024 campaign during which the No. 2 overall pick hardly looked like a rookie. His spellbinding play guided the Washington Commanders to their first NFC title game in 33 years.
Two seasons later — after a litany of injuries stunted his stardom — what most would classify as “rookie mistakes” have reared their head in Year 3.
With no timeouts remaining in overtime of a Week 5 showdown with the New York Giants, Daniels notoriously took a costly sack before hesitating, then hurrying and failing to spike the ball in time for the Commanders to kick a potential game-winning field goal. Eight days after that much-discussed tie, in a 23-17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on “Monday Night Football,” Daniels questionably threw the ball out of bounds on a fourth-and-2 early in the second quarter.
As Daniels rolled to the right, a flag was thrown. Rather than giving one of his receivers a chance at the rock, he threw it away. The penalty wound up being an illegal shift on the Commanders. The 49ers declined and took over on downs from their own 13-yard line.
Washington head coach Dan Quinn told reporters Tuesday that he addressed that ill-advised throwaway with Daniels.
“Even when you know that there’s a penalty, you still take your shot, man, to go throw it, complete it,” said Quinn, who’s also been subject to intense scrutiny of late.
He continued, referencing the flag on the play: “You don’t know if it’s going to get picked up. So that was what I expressed to him as he’s going through seasons and learning. These are all the ones that I don’t want to wait till the next day to talk to him about, you hit right into the moment where we’re going to hit.”
Quinn, now a meager 3-14-1 in his last 18 games coaching the Commanders, was under fire in the wake of that fourth down as well.
At the time of the play call, a now-1-4-1 Washington squad trailed an undefeated San Francisco team 13-3 on the road. Going for it on fourth down seemed reasonable.
What turned heads was a viral clip from the ESPN broadcast that seemed to suggest Quinn didn’t know the Daniels throwaway occurred on fourth down. Postgame, Quinn said he was, in fact, aware that it was fourth down.
“I definitely knew it was fourth down. We were going for it,” Quinn said at the podium. “I think what you were referring to, I was probably saying like, ‘With the illegal shift, there’s not a penalty to go for a field goal.’ It’s the turn on downs. Like, I think somebody asked me, ‘Can we kick a field goal?’
“So, no, we were going for it. We knew we had to go for some fourth downs to be bold in the game.”
He added moments later: “I knew what happened. I think I was probably just commenting that — I remember, at least on the headset, somebody asking me. And after illegal shift, it was turnover on downs.”
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“I definitely knew it was fourth down. We were going for it,” Quinn said at the podium. “I think what you were referring to, I was probably saying like, ‘With the illegal shift, there’s not a penalty to go for a field goal.’ It’s the turn on downs. Like, I think somebody asked me, ‘Can we kick a field goal?’
“So, no, we were going for it. We knew we had to go for some fourth downs to be bold in the game.”
He added moments later: “I knew what happened. I think I was probably just commenting that — I remember, at least on the headset, somebody asking me. And after illegal shift, it was turnover on downs.”
Regardless of the mixed opinions on that clip and Quinn’s explanation, there’s no denying Daniels shouldn’t have thrown the ball away on that play.
It was another puzzling moment in his return from his latest dislocated left elbow injury. And, unfortunately for the 2024 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, it overshadowed his otherwise commendable performance, similar to how his OT gaffe from the week prior cast a negative shadow on his mostly positive output.
Against the Niners, Daniels logged 300 yards on 29-of-40 passing. He finished with a pair of touchdown passes and no interceptions.
That’s after he ran for 103 yards and two scores versus the Giants in Week 5.
“He always can make some throws that just kind of leave you thinking, ‘Man, there it is. There’s only a few guys that can make that throw or that play, and he can do that,'” Quinn said Tuesday. “But I’m looking forward to working with him as we’re going to grow through it.”
Quinn went on, alluding to the bye week the Commanders now have: “And part of this self-scout is looking to see the things and communicate with him, too, to say, ‘Alright, these are things that we want to do more of, and these are things potentially to do less of.'”
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