Washington

Can Jayden Daniels’ second act land the Commanders in the Super Bowl?

Published

7 months ago

July 21, 2025

Can Jayden Daniels’ second act land the Commanders in the Super Bowl?

The second act of Jayden Daniels’ NFL career will come with high expectations – for himself and the Washington Commanders.

In 2024, the Commanders made the NFC championship game, with their rookie quarterback as the main reason. For a franchise devoid of success for more than two decades and a carousel at quarterback, Daniels was more than a revelation. He took on a mystic presence. He was a savior.

Now the Commanders will enter the 2025 season considered Super Bowl contenders (fair or not) and Daniels will be on MVP shortlists. An ESPN poll that took the temperature of NFL executives and coaches left Daniels as the No. 5-ranked quarterback in the league. Ahead of him were the powerful AFC quartet of quarterback: Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow.

“I gotta go out there and prove myself each and every day, no matter if it was last season, this season, 10, 20 years down the road,” Daniels said in May, “you have to prove yourself each and every season.

“Outside noise doesn’t matter,” he continued, “have to go there and keep proving yourself.”

Taken second overall in the new Commanders regime by general manager Adam Peters and head coach Dan Quinn, Daniels carried over his production from Louisiana State to the pros. He rushed for the most yards ever by a rookie quarterback (891). The 2023 Heisman Trophy winner completed 69% of his passes and threw 25 touchdowns – five of which came in the final 30 seconds of regulation or overtime – to nine interceptions. He easily won Associated Press Offensive Rookie of the Year honors.

Off the field, Daniels was instrumental in catalyzing the culture change Quinn instilled from the top of the organization down.

“He’s an amazing teammate. The amount of work that he puts in that goes unseen here to get ready to play, to learn it, to teach others to, you know, connect the guys … there is no flinch in Jayden Daniels,” Quinn said in May. “He’s as focused and relentless as you could about getting better. And so that’s why I said for us around here, like, man, we appreciate that and there’s a lot of things that, he and the rest of us are really digging in hard on to say, ‘All right, can we get this better?’”

Jayden Daniels’ 2025 NFL season goals? From learning to mastery

Throughout Daniels’ first full offseason as a pro, the coaching staff and the quarterback concentrated on taking aspects of his game from “really good” to “elite” with the goal of being “the best at this concept,” Quinn said.

The freedom an offseason provides was new to Daniels. Some of that was difficult to navigate, Daniels said, but he leaned on his support system.

“It was fun just to sit back and reflect and figure out how I’m going to move throughout this offseason and move forward,” Daniels said.

For offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, that meant receiving plenty of texts and calls from Daniels, who is a football junkie. Kingsbury didn’t have to give him any homework.

“His mind is never very far away from the game, so if he sees something or has a thought, he likes to reach out and talk through it,” Kingsbury said in May. “And so that relationship has really grown, I think kind of figuring out where we want to continue to get better at.

“That’s all he kind of thinks about is how he can get better and watches a ton of film, watches a ton of football overall. And so, that organically really takes care of itself in a way when you have a guy who wants to be that great.”

A potential head-coach candidate once again, Kingsbury, quarterbacks coach Tavita Pritchard and assistant quarterbacks coach David Blough were all retained by the Commanders this offseason with the goal of providing a stable “ecosystem,” in the words of Peters, for Daniels.

“It’s huge,” Kingsbury said of the continuity at Daniels’ disposal. “I think you look traditionally through the NFL, the guys who’ve had a ton of success have been able to stay in those long-term, all-time greats and just the comfort level and then you being able to take the ownership of it and understand it inside and out, where now you’re correcting people, you don’t even need the coaches. And he’s kind of getting to that point.”

Going into Year 2, Kingsbury said, Daniels shifted from learning to mastery of the scheme. Daniels said “transparency” between he and Kingsbury has improved; he relays what he likes, Kingsbury offers his viewpoints and they agree on the middle ground.

“Just watching him move around, he’s not thinking as much, he’s playing fast and letting his natural gifts kind of take over and that’s what we want to see,” Kingsbury said. “So, I expect him to take a big jump.”

The spotlight will only increase. The Commanders are scheduled to play in 10 standalone windows this season, starting Week 2 against the Green Bay Packers on “Thursday Night Football.”

Commanders have ‘massive opportunity’ with Jayden Daniels on rookie contract

Throughout last season, Daniels faced questions regarding his durability. The 6-foot-4 passer is listed at a generous 210 pounds. Big hits he took in the first month of the season didn’t assuage those concerns. Daniels suffered a rib injury against the Carolina Panthers on Oct. 20 following a long run that affected him for the better part of a month.

Neither the Commanders nor Daniels had any specific weight goals or bulking desires for the offseason. Quinn said he’s where he expects Daniels to be on the scale, but that working out more has naturally made him leaner.

“He knows what he has to do to protect himself and where he feels comfortable playing,” Kingsbury said. “But the arm strength, it looks better and you can tell he’s stronger, there’s no doubt.”

While Daniels improved himself, Peters improved the roster. He brought back key veterans who bonded with Daniels in tight end Zach Ertz, linebacker Bobby Wagner and backup quarterback Marcus Mariota. He traded for wideout Deebo Samuel, formerly with the San Francisco 49ers, and left tackle Laremy Tunsil. The Commanders used their first-round draft pick on offensive lineman Josh Conerly.

“We have a massive opportunity, and you know, none of us are taking that lightly,” Commanders owner Josh Harris said regarding Daniels’ rookie contract in February after the team’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC title game.

But Daniels’ favorite target, wide receiver Terry McLaurin, and the front office are locked into a contract standoff that has devolved from standard to bitter.

In Quinn’s mind, whoever Daniels is working with on the field has the benefit of working with a leader who understands the larger goal.

“I know he’s worked hard through the offseason, but he’s just in command of the things that he wanted to work,” Quinn said. “He and his teammates, they’ve really put in a lot of work together.

“You can sense when people are going for it and you know, he’s certainly one that is.”

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Washington

Tulip Day Washington draws buzz as sign-up site goes down

Published

5 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

WASHINGTON – Coming up this month, spring’s most colorful new event: Tulip Day Washington.

What we know:

On March 15, 2026, Tulip Day Washington will transform DC’s National Mall into a vibrant tulip-picking garden beautiful views of U.S. Capitol

This one-day event will take place from 11:15 AM – 4:15 PM, offering a floral showcase of approximately 150,000 tulips; visitors are invited to pick their choice of 10 tulips for free upon arrival.

Dig deeper:

The registration site for Tulip Day is currently down, showing users “This site is currently unavailable. If you’re the owner of this website, please contact your hosting provider to get this resolved.”

Users on social media say the event may be sold out.

Check tulipday.eu for updates.

The backstory:

The event is organized by the Embassy of the Netherlands and Royal Anthos, a Dutch trade association, in honor of America’s 250th birthday. The display of tulips will be in the shape of the number 250.

The bulbs come from the Netherlands, but are being grown in Virginia and New Jersey.

These won’t be the first tulips on the National Mall, however. The Floral Library, also known as the Tulip Library, features 93 beds of flowers near the Tidal Basin. The Floral Library was established in 1969, and is maintained by the National Park Services. These flowers, though, are to be enjoyed only – not to be picked.

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Washington

PHOTOS: Long Beach State Dirtbags vs. Washington State, Baseball

Published

17 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

PHOTOS: Long Beach State Dirtbags vs. Washington State, Baseball

The562’s coverage of Dirtbags Baseball for the 2026 season is sponsored by P2S, Inc. Visit p2sinc.com to learn more.

Long Beach State dropped a 9-7 decision against Washington State on Sunday afternoon, closing out a busy weekend on Bohl Diamond at Blair Field.

The visiting Cougars took the lead for good in the eighth inning when Long Beach Poly grad Ryan Skjonsby delivered a game-winning two-run single with two outs and the bases loaded. Skjonsby was 2-for-4 with a walk, a run scored and three RBIs for Washington State in their road victory.

For the Dirtbags, catcher Damon Valdez scored twice and had a key two-run single in the sixth to help lead a Long Beach comeback. Trevor Goldenetz had a pair of hits at the top of the order, including an RBI triple. Camden Gasser walked twice and singled, improving his on-base percentage to .574 on the season.

Long Beach State (4-7) will be back in action at home on Tuesday with an exhibition match against Waseda University from Japan. The Dirtbags will then visit San Diego State on Wednesday and open Big West play at UC Santa Barbara this weekend.

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Washington

Week Ahead in Washington: March 1

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) – Operation “Epic Fury” — the weekend military operations carried out by the U.S. and Israel against targets in Iran — tops the agenda for Congress as lawmakers return to Washington.

Sunday, President Donald Trump said the new leadership in Iran wants to talk to the Trump Administration.

Democrats in both chambers called for Congress to return as soon as possible for classified briefings on Iran, followed by a move to vote on the War Powers Act. The Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war on another country.

Congress’ return to Washington was originally delayed due to the start of the 2026 midterm elections cycle.

Tuesday, voters in Arkansas, North Carolina and Texas head to the polls for primary elections.

North Carolina and Texas are drawing significant attention, as both states are facing congressional redistricting and competitive primary races for Senate seats.

In Texas, incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R) is facing primary challenges from state Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt. On the Democratic side, Rep. Jasmine Crockett is facing state Rep. James Talarico.

In North Carolina, candidates are vying to replacing retiring Sen. Thom Tillis (R) . They include former Governor Roy Cooper (D) and former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley.

Also this week, the Rev. Jesse Jackson is laid to rest. He will be honored Wednesday in Washington before a final memorial service Saturday. Jackson died Feb. 17.

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