After his head coach, Dan Quinn, revealed what Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman told Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels, you can understand why Daniels is tired of training camp reps and anxious to begin the regular season. Quinn says Aikman gave invaluable advice ahead of the 2025 NFL season. Wisdom only a Hall of Fame QB could impart for the 24-year-old who's ranked in most analysts' top-10.
Two years ago, Aikman talked about his own rookie season, playing for Dallas Cowboys' head coach Jimmy Johnson, and what his coach told him, per ESPN's Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler.
“You be a great teammate and play good quarterback. I'll take care of all the discipline, all the other stuff,” Aikman said.
Troy Aikman's advice stuck with Quinn, who relayed the same message to Daniels after kicking a player off the field due to a false start.
“Don't worry about, ‘You get lined up here, you do this, you do that,'” Quinn recalled telling Daniels. “We wanted him to be a great teammate and absolutely crush playing quarterback. So much can be put on kids: ‘Lead more, lead more.' Right now, I want you to build your relationship with your teammates, who are learning you, and play quarterback. You don't have to bring the team up. You don't have to put the organization on your shoulders. Leave that to us.”
One year into Daniels' NFL career, Commanders head coach Dan Quinn can see the vast improvements heading into next season.
“His inner game, his poise, is really strong,” Quinn told me. “Really strong. And those are things you don't know in the evaluation. But once I found out how strong his inner game is.”
“You feel that. They don't get rattled. It's a real thing,” Quinn concluded.
Jayden Daniels adapts to Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury
With his rookie campaign under his belt, Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels has acclimated to Kliff Kingsbury, the team's offensive coordinator, and spoke on it during training camp. Daniels says he's felt the difference throughout the summer, per ESPN's John Keim.
“It's being more comfortable in the offense,” Daniels said. “I understand what Kliff is calling and what we want to accomplish as an offense. I have different tools in my tool belt to get to different protections, to get to different runs versus certain looks.”
As eager as Daniels is to begin his second season, Commanders fans can't wait to see the strides he makes during the 2025 NFL season.
