Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels addressed the media after the team’s Wednesday practice. Here are five takeaways from his press conference.
1. The past two weeks featured a new experience for him.
Daniels didn’t mince words about his time sidelined with his knee injury. It was “tough,” he said, watching his teammates play in two games as he worked on getting healthy.
“As a competitor, you want to go out there and help your team in any way possible,” Daniels said. “So, kind of being sidelined for these past couple weeks was super tough.”
It was particularly difficult during last week’s game against the Atlanta Falcons, as the Commanders failed to pull out a comeback and suffered their second loss of the season, 34-27. “Nobody likes losing at all,” he said, regardless of whether they’re playing or not.
The Commanders have been cautious with Daniels’ recovery process, even though he wishes that he could have been back on the field two weeks ago. Although Daniels did whatever he could to show that he was healthy, the Commanders’ medical team held off on clearing him until they were completely sure he wouldn’t reinjure himself.
That can lead to frustration at times, but the coaches and his teammates were there to help him through the process.
“DQ [head coach Dan Quinn] and my team always, obviously, was there for me because they knew how much it meant to me,” Daniels said. “And I tried to return that same energy and I think I was able to do that.”