Commanders' Jayden Daniels Remaining Focused Despite Heavy Recognition

Washington Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels isn't being distracted despite heavy praise.

Sep 29, 2024; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) celebrates against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Washington Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels is now under the spotlight. The team lost their season opener to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but have since won three straight games. They've notched the 30-point mark in their last two victories, too.

On the season, Daniels has tallied 897 passing yards, three passing touchdowns and just one interception. As a dual-threat quarterback, he's added 218 yards and four touchdowns on 46 carries. Needless to say, he's off to a very hot start in his young career.

After an impressive week -- and month of September -- Daniels is now under the spotlight, as mentioned. Not only have football fans around the nation taken to social media to praise the young quarterback, but he's being recognized with a plethora of awards.

The LSU product was the Offensive Rookie of the Month, FedEx Air and Ground Player of the Week, NFL Offense Player of the Week for the second-straight week, Nickelodeon Player of the Week and more.

Despite what legendary football coach Nick Saban would claim to be "rat poison," Daniels has remained grounded and even-keeled as he looks to help Washington continue establishing a winning culture in DC. How has he done so? By keeping the main thing, the main thing.

“Yeah, I mean, thank God to be able to be in that position, be able to impact people's lives and stuff like that. But man, the main thing is keeping the main thing, the main thing, man, that's football," Daniels explained. "How can I get better each and every week? Not get caught up in what people are saying or anything because none of that really matters. Because I could be playing good and then playing bad and people would be thinking the opposite. So, it's staying levelheaded. Go out there and just focus on what'ss up, what's now and be where my feet are.”

Despite being a rookie, Daniels is far ahead in terms of maturity. With a contest against the Cleveland Browns looming, the Commanders have the ability to match their win total from a season ago. To do so through five games would be quite impressive, and the rookie quarterback understands why being even-keeled is important to achieve that.

"Keep improving. Finding little ways to keep growing. I wouldn't say it's a finished product, but it's just a start and, I mean, I don't really look at everything that people talk about," Daniels said. "I mean, I see it, but other than that, man, none of that matters. That was last week's stuff. You only as good as the last game you played and everybody going to look at what can you do the week prior and the weeks after that."

Following a franchise turnover and now rebuilding, having a leader like Daniels take over under center only instills confidence in the rest of the organization from top to bottom. He's got the on-field product turned around, but spreading that to the locker room and beyond will only help the Commanders long-term.

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