ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — The start of the 2026 season is less than three months away for the Washington Commanders, and it’s no surprise that Jayden Daniels wants to look forward, not backward.
“I’m done talking about last year. Last year’s last year,” the 25-year-old quarterback said at minicamp this week. “Moving on to this season, and whatever happened last year is what happened last year. Can’t do anything for me but just continue to get better.”
After reaching the NFC championship game two seasons ago when Daniels was a rookie, Washington stumbled to 5-12 in 2025. The Commanders were a trendy pick to regress before the season started, and while injuries played a significant role, the naysayers ultimately had this one right when Washington went on an eight-game losing streak in the middle of the season. The big question this year is whether Daniels can stay healthy after he played only seven games last season, but there’s more to rebounding than just that.
Across the board, Daniels’ numbers were down in 2025 when he did play: passer rating (100.1 to 88.1), completion rate (69.0 percent to 60.6), yards per pass attempt (7.4 to 6.7) and yards per rush attempt (6.02 to 4.79). Washington went 2-5 in the games Daniels played after a 12-5 mark the previous regular season.
Commanders fans have already seen one promising quarterback — Robert Griffin III — have a sensational rookie season in 2012 and then never reach those heights again. They don’t want a repeat with Daniels.
After last season, the Commanders overhauled coach Dan Quinn’s staff. David Blough replaced Kliff Kingsbury as offensive coordinator. D.J. Williams, the son of Super Bowl-winning Washington quarterback Doug Williams, is now the quarterbacks coach.
“When D.J. got here was my first time meeting him. Obviously I heard about him through Doug,” Daniels said. “It’s been cool. He’s been pushing me. We’ve been having conversations, not even just about football but about life.”
Daniels and the Commanders have to adjust to a new offense under Blough. Of course, Daniels adapted quickly when he was a rookie and new to the NFL, so the hope is that he’ll pick things up rapidly this offseason too as the system is installed.
“(The offense is), I would say, let’s say 80% in. But knowing it and then making the plays come to life, that’s different,” Quinn said. “The thing that he works at, and you can tell so quickly, is his ability to process. So for him, the reps of doing it over and over is helpful.”
Minicamp was just a small part of Washington’s preparation for the season. The Commanders open Sept. 13 at Philadelphia.
“On this day of installs, you have a certain set of plays. Then we do another one on the next day and another one. So you don’t get continuity — ‘I want to run that concept 15 times,’” Quinn said. “That will take place in camp. … And then when we get back to camp, that install process isn’t new.”
Right now the offense is a work in progress, but at least the focus is on next season and not the previous one.
“I know we’ve got a lot more to go. We just built the foundation,” Daniels said. “Just learning the new offense, terminology. Why we’re attacking this play. What we want to do on this play. Things like that.”
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