Washington Commanders' quarterback Jayden Daniels had one of the best rookie seasons ever with the franchise being transformed from a three-win team to a 12-win unit that reached the NFC Championship game.
Daniels rarely looked rattled; he was composed in every situation he was put in as he led the team through good patches and poor ones en route to winning the Offensive Rookie of the Year award.
But while from the outside, it seemed like Jayden had the answer to every test that was placed in front of him, when talking to Jon Gruden on the Gruden Goes Long podcast, Daniels revealed that it was during the rough patch that he felt like he knew he had things sorted.
"Early on I knew I had some success," Daniels said. "But I think where I felt myself getting better was that rough stretch where we lost three in a row. Adversity is going to tell you a lot of who you are as a man, you almost don't win for a month, it sucks. So after that we got back to our winning ways and I could just feel myself getting better each and every week and we peaked at the right time right before the playoffs, we're coming together as a team and like hardship is going to make or it's going to break you."
The Commanders were 7-2 and rolling before a three-game skid saw them come back to earth with a thud, but as Daniels stated, it is there where the team and players found out a lot about themselves.
So while many fixate on the good that happened throughout the season, it was the bad that made Daniels and the Commanders grow into what they would eventually become.
It is clear the tough stretch did the team good, and they didn't wilt under the pressure; they embraced it with Daniels leading the way as the beacon of light for the franchise.
And it was there where he knew he was on the right track in his development as the Commanders' franchise quarterback.
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