Room to Grow: Jayden Daniels Struggles in Commanders Joint Practice

The Washington Commanders got their first look at how second-overall rookie Jayden Daniels would fare against NFL defenses on Thursday.

The results were pretty mixed.

During Thursday's joint practice between the New York Jets and Commanders, a rain-soaked field in Florham Park left both offenses sputtering for most of the day. In that case, the Heisman Trophy winner's performance will be certainly dissected with proper context.

Even still, it wasn't the cleanest day from Daniels.

In the last drill of the day - a two-minute drive to get into field goal range, Daniels threw four straight incomplete passes with most of them either in range to be picked off or completely t inaccurate to the intended receiver.

In earlier team drills, Daniels took what the defense gave him more, but only completed short passes.

There will be some people who may be concerned with Daniels' performance in the weather, but there's further context that's needed.

Related: Hope For Commanders' Defensive Improvement?

To start, the Jets' defense (and particularly their secondary) is considered one of the best defenses in football. Daniels may not see another defense like this one all year - seeing them so early is usually a good sign for his development.

It may not have been the conditions or style he wanted to show out on Thursday, but it was an important step for Daniels and the Commanders.