Dan Quinn spoke highly of two of his first-year players.
In fairness to Quinn, he didn’t actually single out the two players. The media member is the one who referenced quarterback Jayden Daniels and cornerback Mike Sainristil. So Quinn was answering the question, but in addition, Quinn thoughtfully included “and a number of their teammates.”
Quinn was asked about the growth of his first year players in the second half of the season and it preparing them for the playoffs.
“Yeah, the maturity for those [Daniels and CB Mike Sainristil] and a number of their teammates jumps out to me,” Quinn said. “And what I’ve come to know about them is these are really disciplined guys. So, motivation takes you so far; it’s the discipline and doing the things right over and over again, all of the unseen work.”
Daniels has had to adjust from his first two games of running too quickly and giving up on passing. He has made great strides during the season in using his mobility to find an open receiver. Sainristil was drafted to be more of an inside slot corner. However, injuries and unmet expectations led the staff to move Sainristil outside.
“Dealing with those guys, I’ve found that’s (discipline) the common thread. I’ve felt that these are very disciplined young guys, and they’ve really applied that discipline to their football life, and it’s no surprise that why they’re having this kind of success because they can absolutely stay in it,” Quinn said. “And that’s kind of the definition of grit, of doing those things, the hard things over and over again. And both Jayden and Mikey, they really have that.”
Commanders GM Adam Peters drafted nine players in last April’s NFL draft. Daniels, Sainristil, Ben Sinnott and Luke McCaffrey appeared in all 17 games. Jer’Zhan Newton and Brandon Coleman played in 16 games. Javontae Jean-Baptiste played in 12 games. Jordan Magee and Dominique Hampton played in eight games and one game, respectively.
Two undrafted free agents also made the team and saw action. Safety Tyler Owens played in 12 games, and tight end Colson Yankoff played in 6 games. Both are currently on the Injured Reserve list.