ARLINGTON, TX. \u2014 We\u2019ve seen enough Jayden Daniels commercials to know he isn\u2019t a natural thespian.<\/p>\n
The smile is warm, and the Washington Commanders\u2019 star comes across as likable whether pitching soup or laundry detergent. Unlike his creative passes or exciting runs, his line reads are a bit wooden.<\/p>\n
That hardly makes him unique among athletes-turned-pitchmen. Daniels is there for his popularity and sway among fans \u2013 plus a fat paycheck \u2013 not because his acting might lead to a Clio Award.<\/p>\n
These ads help, however, when assessing Daniels\u2019 primary interactions on the mic for his day job. Whether hanging at the Heisman House or hawking an energy drink, the third-year pro is trying to perform. Daniels chats weekly with local reporters without that same sense of playing a part.<\/p>\n
A natural introvert, he rarely expressed himself beyond required sound bites during his first two seasons, even when teed up for a potentially emotional or intricate response. However, his directness has notably increased entering his third season, even if there\u2019s no sense he took classes this offseason at the Actors Studio.<\/p>\n
Daniels might act blas\u00e9 when asked about an athletic exploit or praise from a famous face. That\u2019s what made recent comments about the gratitude he felt after returning to regular-season action last week for the first time since Dec. 7 feel so authentic, even in his usual low-key tone.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a blessing,\u201d Daniels said last week. \u201cAs I said, I don\u2019t take (playing) for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n
He missed 10 games last season due to three separate injuries. Facing Philadelphia in Week 1 was Daniels\u2019 first regular-season action since a season-ending re-injury of his dislocated left elbow in Week 14 last year at Minnesota. It was also the first game he started and finished since an Oct. 13 home loss to the Bears.<\/p>\n
Forget whether his emoting is enough to stop a Hollywood casting director in their tracks. Daniels opening up, even a little, is character development.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you have something for so long, you kind of start taking it for granted,\u201d Daniels said last week. \u201cObviously, that happened to me last year. I got football taken away from me. So, now, just humbled and grateful just to be able to play this game I love.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what made what happened Sunday in Dallas feel particularly cruel.<\/p>\n
The Commanders losing 37-20 to the Cowboys and opening a regular season with an 0-2 record for the first time since 2019 is challenging enough.<\/p>\n
Another game in what\u2019s become a one-sided rivalry where Dallas QB Dak Prescott lit up the scoreboard with four touchdown passes \u2014 two to receiver CeeDee Lamb in a dominant performance \u2014 is an unwanted case of history repeating itself.<\/p>\n
But losing the franchise-altering quarterback to another dislocated left elbow, one likely to sideline him for multiple weeks, poured an entire bag of salt into Washington\u2019s latest open wound.<\/p>\n
Daniels will miss Sunday\u2019s home game against Seattle Seahawks, and coach Dan Quinn said he does not expect to have another update until later this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sucks, and you can\u2019t even really put it into words,\u201d said Marcus Mariota, who returned to a familiar role of replacing Daniels at quarterback. \u201cYou watch that kid battle through all that he\u2019s been through last year, and it\u2019s just very, very unfortunate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trailing 17-10 with three seconds remaining in the first half, Washington held the momentum after withstanding an early 14-point Dallas lead.<\/p>\n
Daniels, after throwing two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter of the 24-22 road loss at Philadelphia, had the offense humming in Dallas. He finished the half having completed 11 of 17 passes for 96 yards, including a 3-yard touchdown to Stefon Diggs.<\/p>\n
After a quiet showing with his legs against the Eagles, Daniels was assertive and smart on his six carries for 69 yards on Sunday, sliding at the end of those runs rather than taking on contact.<\/p>\n
Quinn confirmed the dislocation after the game and said X-rays showed no fracture. significant injury.<\/p>\n
\u201cAdversity is not new to this team, it\u2019s not new to this organization, not new to myself,\u201d McLaurin said. \u201c \u2026 I don\u2019t really try to get bogged down in the current situation, ride the highs and the lows. We have a long season. I know we\u2019re gonna bounce back.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re gonna support (Jayden). \u2026 We gotta find a way to get in the win column. This one hurts because we lost our brother. It hurts because we lost. It hurts because we\u2019re 0-2, but the season\u2019s not over.\u201d<\/p>\n
McLaurin is right. 15 games remain.<\/p>\n
But after Daniels spent months working his way back, talked openly about appreciating the game differently because football had been taken away from him and then had it taken away again two weeks into the season, the sense of doom felt all too familiar.<\/p>\n
Ben Standig is the founder and publisher of Last Man Standig, where he covers the Washington Commanders and NBA\u2019s Washington Wizards. He has covered the Commanders full-time since 2015, with previous work appearing in The Athletic, the Associated Press, USA Today, NBC Sports Washington and other national and regional outlets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ARLINGTON, TX. \u2014 We\u2019ve seen enough Jayden Daniels commercials to know he isn\u2019t a natural thespian. The smile…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":445959,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[150,152,151,80,154],"class_list":["post-445958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arlington","tag-arlington","tag-arlington-headlines","tag-arlington-news","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=445958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445958\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/445959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=445958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=445958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=445958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}