Jayden Daniels, the guy who led Washington to an NFC title game a couple years back, just made another head-scratching “rookie mistake” against the 49ers, baffling everyone with an ill-advised fourth-down throwaway. It’s the kind of play that has Washington’s head coach Dan Quinn stepping in, demanding his QB “take your shot, man.” This isn’t just a bad play; it’s another misstep in a season where Daniels is struggling to recapture his early magic and Quinn himself is under intense scrutiny.
Daniels’ Costly Fourth-Down Flub and Quinn’s Frustration
In a 23-17 “Monday Night Football” loss to the undefeated San Francisco 49ers, Daniels rolled right on a fourth-and-2 early in the second quarter. Instead of giving one of his receivers a chance at the ball, he just chucked it out of bounds. Turns out, there was an illegal shift penalty on Washington, but the 49ers declined it and took over on downs from their own 13-yard line. Coach Quinn didn’t wait around; he told reporters Tuesday he hit Daniels up immediately about it. “Even when you know that there’s a penalty, you still take your shot, man, to go throw it, complete it,” Quinn said. He added, “You don’t know if it’s going to get picked up. So that was what I expressed to him as he’s going through seasons and learning. These are all the ones that I don’t want to wait till the next day to talk to him about, you hit right into the moment where we’re going to hit.” It’s clear Quinn wants his QB to play fearless, even with a flag on the field.
Quinn’s On-Field Awareness Under Fire, Too
This whole Daniels situation comes with Quinn already facing a ton of heat. The guy is a meager 3-14-1 in his last 18 games coaching the Commanders. Washington was trailing the 49ers 13-3 on the road, sitting at 1-4-1 themselves, so going for it on fourth down made sense. What really got people talking, though, was a viral clip from the ESPN broadcast that seemed to suggest Quinn didn’t even know it was fourth down when Daniels threw the ball away. After the game, Quinn tried to clear it up, stating he absolutely knew it was fourth down and they were going for it. “I definitely knew it was fourth down. We were going for it,” Quinn said. He explained the confusion, saying, “I think what you were referring to, I was probably saying like, ‘With the illegal shift, there’s not a penalty to go for a field goal.’ It’s the turn on downs. Like, I think somebody asked me, ‘Can we kick a field goal?’” He insisted, “I knew what happened. I think I was probably just commenting that , I remember, at least on the headset, somebody asking me. And after illegal shift, it was turnover on downs.” Mixed opinions on his explanation aside, the pressure on Quinn is only mounting.
Rookie Mistakes Keep Piling Up for Daniels
Regardless of the coaching drama, there’s no denying Daniels should have never thrown that ball away. It’s just another head-scratcher since he came back from his latest dislocated left elbow injury. This moment overshadowed an otherwise solid performance, just like his overtime blunder against the Giants a week earlier. In that Week 5 showdown, with no timeouts left in overtime, Daniels took a costly sack, then hesitated, hurried, and failed to spike the ball in time for a potential game-winning field goal. This guy, who was the No. 2 overall pick and the 2024 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, showed “spellbinding play” during his 2024 campaign, guiding his team to an NFC title game. Now, in Year 3, a string of injuries seems to have stunted his stardom, and these “rookie mistakes” are rearing their ugly heads. It’s a tough look for a quarterback everyone expected to be a surefire star. He’s got to learn to take his shot, just like his coach said, and fast, if he wants to turn this season around.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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