Jayden Daniels saw 13 seconds on the clock when he took the final snap of overtime against the New York Giants on Sunday, with the Washington Commanders in field goal range and no timeouts left. He went down at the Giants’ 24-yard line with eight seconds remaining, and the offense never got set to spike the ball. The game ended in a 27-27 tie.
Daniels gave his first explanation that night, when he was asked if anyone in the huddle knew the clock had to be stopped.
“We’ve just got to communicate that, that’s the whole thing,” Daniels told reporters. “It starts with me, communicating to the whole offense in the huddle. And I think everybody will say that from the top down.”
He added that it was ultimately on him. Head coach Dan Quinn went further in his own postgame session, saying the right call was to clock the ball early and adding, “And that’s my responsibility, nobody else’s.” The “top down” portion of Daniels’ answer drew criticism from some analysts who heard it as spreading the blame.
Leader: Jayden Daniels takes accountability for his lack of clock management at the end of last week’s game.
“Ultimately, it’s on me. … I know I’m better than that. I hold myself to a higher standard than that.”
https://t.co/lphcYfMsXa
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) October 15, 2026
What changed in Daniels’ answer by Thursday
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Daniels dropped the qualifiers and named the criticism aimed at his coach.
“Ultimately, it’s on me at the end of the day,” Daniels said. “I know DQ is getting a lot of slack for it or whatever, but regardless of what happens, I’m the person on the field that’s supposed to calm everything, control everything and I failed to the standard that I hold myself to and the standard in this organization.
“This is something for me to move on, not saying I’m proud of it or anything. Obviously, looking back, it could have resulted in a loss. We tied, but it was a failure in my eyes, and I know I’m better than that. I hold myself to a higher standard than that. So moving forward, I’ll grow from it, learn from it, and it’ll never happen again.”
With 13 seconds left, a throwaway would have stopped the clock with time left to kick.
Daniels is in his third season, a point Green Bay Packers edge rusher Micah Parsons pressed on his podcast, The Edge with Micah Parsons, when he said the mistake “probably cost Dan Quinn his job.”
Parsons played under Quinn in Dallas.
Washington is 1-3-1 after the tie and visits the undefeated San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football on Oct. 19.
“I’m moving on to San Francisco,” Daniels said.
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