Jayden Daniels Quietly Changes Pre-game Ritual as Commanders QB Takes Next Step

Jayden Daniels won the Offensive Rookie of the Year last year. Part of the credit goes to his talent, sure. Part of the credit goes to the head coach, Dan Quinn, and the offensive coordinator, Kliff Kingsbury—no doubt about it. But if you ask him about the reason behind his success, he’d probably credit the time he spent each morning in his VR headset. Before every game, the quarterback followed the routine like a ritual.

So, heading into his second season, you just knew Daniels was looking to take his game up a notch. But? Just ahead of the Commanders‘ season opener against the Giants on Sunday, we just got an insight that the second-year QB has received an upgrade in his VR headset. Jane Slater of the NFL Network just confirmed the news. Is it going to benefit him? Well, Slater has the answer. “Jayden Daniels loves video games, the football version,” Slater reported.

“Last year, we talked extensively about that virtual reality headset that he used to prepare for games. Well, Daniels told me they upgraded it this year. They removed the pre-snap defenses. Why is that a big deal? When the play starts, that’s when they show up and that forces them to adjust to coverages on the fly. It also helps him sharpen his instincts and his feel.” Translation?

The only difference Daniels has gotten entering his sophomore year is that last year, the VR headset trained him to read defenses before the snap. This year? It’s training him to adjust once the play is live. Daniels will not only react instantly when defenders appear, but he’ll also become faster and more instinctive with the new upgrade. And let’s just say, Daniels’ OC is loving it already. “Kliff Kingsbury loves it,” Slater further added. Daniels practicing with a VR headset is no breaking news.

The reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year has been doing it since his college days. Every morning at 6 a.m., Daniels straps on his VR headset and dives into a playbook that feels more like a video game. With Kingsbury’s voice guiding him through, the QB gets to see the routes, hear the calls, and run plays as if he’s right there on the field. The OC calls it a “flight simulator for quarterbacks.”

“It’s a unique technology, and it’s definitely for the quarterbacks,” the OC added. “I think it is more effective than them just watching the film. They’re going through their reads, they’re going through their progressions, they’re seeing it.” The tool helped the Commanders’ QB torch the defenders in his rookie year. A tool that Daniels first started flying back at LSU.

How does the headset help Jayden Daniels run routes 20 times faster?

Jayden Daniels spent three years at Arizona before transferring to Louisiana State University in 2022. And let’s just say the quarterback was good, sure. But not an elite and a record-setting player. But right before his final season, LSU decided to experiment with its QB. They tried out the VR headset, provided by German company Cognilize. That was it.

Daniels started practicing with the headset three times a week to run through plays that operated at 1.75 times the normal speed. “It moves faster within the VR than actual human beings,” Daniels said. “Once you get out there, everything slows down. I know this is coming. I’ve seen this before, (and) it moved more than 20 times faster in VR.” The result? Jayden Daniels didn’t just show up as a rookie—he flat-out delivered.

The guy started all 17 games, threw for 3,568 yards, completed nearly 70% of his passes, and stacked up 25 touchdowns through the air, plus six more with his legs. Oh, and he also snapped the Commanders’ 19-year playoff win drought while he was at it. And now that he’s getting better, sharpening his instincts with the latest upgrade, expect the second-year QB to record another phenomenal season as he kicks off the 2025 season against the Giants.