Late in the fourth quarter of the Commanders’ loss to the Buccaneers on Sunday, Jayden Daniels ran for a one-yard touchdown. Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury said that was all on Daniels and no credit goes to the play calling.
Kingsbury said today that he never should have called the play that he called, and didn’t give Daniels an option to audible out of the play to a better call for the look of the Buccaneers’ defense. But Daniels just took the play that was called and scored the touchdown himself.
“I called one of the worst plays I’ve ever called in my entire career, and he just took the ball and ran it into the end zone,” Kingsbury said. “He just was not going to be denied there on the goal line. It says a lot about him in that situation. A lot of people would not have taken that opportunity to drive that ball down and then put it into the end zone, and he wanted the ball in his hands and wanted to score. That was exciting to see. I think every day he gains more and more credibility in the locker room, with his work ethic, his attention to detail, and his competitive spirit is the best I’ve ever been around.”
Daniels finished the game with 16 carries for 88 yards, and Kingsbury acknowledged that he needs to be careful about not calling so many runs that Daniels is getting hit and getting hurt.
“We want him to continue to grow and you can’t do that if you’re banged up and on the sideline,” Kingsbury said.
But it’s good to know that when Daniels needs to get into the end zone with his legs, he can do it.
