Jayden Daniels made his debut in his first NFL game for Washington, wearing a retro Doug Williams jersey.
The No. 2 pick played like the quarterback the Commanders hope he will be, showing his skills in his only series during a 20-17 loss to the New York Jets in their preseason opener on Saturday.
“Before I left, it was in my closet,” Daniels said, smiling while wearing Williams’ No. 17 jersey again. “Hey, what better way to have my debut, first game than represent Doug and what he did for this organization.”
Daniels scored a touchdown after making a well-placed deep pass for his first NFL completion, putting Washington into New York territory. He made a strong first impression on Williams, who was the first Black quarterback to start and win a Super Bowl with Washington in January 1988 and is now a senior advisor with the team.
“I feel like it just gives everybody confidence moving forward, obviously not just me,” Daniels said.
The former LSU star and most of the Commanders’ starting offensive players only played the first series against Jets backups. On his second pass, Daniels connected with Dyami Brown for 42 yards along the right sideline on third-and-6 from Washington’s 34.
Coach Dan Quinn mentioned that Daniels decided to switch from a shorter play to a deeper pass on his own.
“I think he wanted to ask for forgiveness and not permission,” Quinn said. “And then (he) throws an absolute dime to Dyami over the top. … He went ahead and buzzed the tower. It was a really cool play.”
On third-and-3 from the Jets 5, Daniels handed off to Austin Ekeler, who gained 3 yards, which was confirmed by a virtual measurement. The NFL is trying out Sony’s Hawk-Eye technology to measure line to gain instead of using the traditional chain gang during some preseason games.
Daniels faked a handoff to Ekeler on third-and-goal, then ran to his right and scored a 3-yard touchdown to give the Commanders a 7-0 lead with 8:39 left in the first quarter. He then found his mother in the stands behind Washington’s sideline and threw her the ball from his first touchdown.
