Jayden Daniels got some preseason action in Saturday’s game at Detroit.
Keyword: Some.
The Commanders went three-and-out on their opening offensive series, with an incomplete check down pass, a sack on playaction and a handoff on third-and-a-country-mile.
The drive was lightning quick, but it didn’t prompt head coach Dan Quinn to trot his quarterback out there for another series.
Going into it, I knew that, if it was going to be 10 plays or three plays, that’s how we were going to do it,” Quinn told
on site reporters following a 17-13 loss to Detroit. “Same thing defensively. We stuck to the game plan that we had.”
Daniels didn’t resist. He didn’t demand another drive. He knew his time was up. Like, for the entire preseason slate.
He still found the experience helpful as part of his preparation for the regular season.
“I understand you can’t play however many, 60-plus plays in the preseason games,” Daniels told reporters in his press conference. “The main goal is Week 1 and the games after that. You try to just build up, ramp up and try to knock off the rust here and there. From there, you trust the coaching and everything they’ve got to say.
“It’s valuable reps, whether it’s preseason, practice – you’re learning from each and every thing. It’s very valuable to me.”
Those game reps were Daniels’ first in a long time. He hasn’t played in a football game of any kind since Dec. 7, 2025, in when he aggravated an injured elbow that shut him down for the season.
“It was good to operationally go out there with live bullets,” Daniels said. “Joint practice is great practice, but there’s a different type of urgency when you’re going up against somebody else that’s live. It was good to get back out there and play live football once again.”
The Commanders didn’t want to put him at further risk in the name of a few extra snaps. Saturday was but one piece of Daniels preparation for the 2026 campaign, and it fit into what Washington hoped to accomplish.
“You want to thread the needle as close as you can,” Quinn said. “There are times in practice where he may take as many of the reps as he can. We have some tough practice Wednesday and Thursday and he might’ve taken 45 of the plays, runs and passes, just so he’s getting into the game shape and the rhythm. You can all of those, but the plan was to get him some work in this game, too.
“…Fortunately, he’s having an excellent camp. I have been pleased with what I’ve seen from him. It’s important to get these looks, but we had a plan and I was going to stick to it.”
