“First and foremost, he didn’t have practice footage,” Peters said in a wide-ranging news conference alongside Coach Dan Quinn on Tuesday, a day before the Commanders open training camp. “A still, yeah. But we handled it internally, and we’re unconcerned with that.”
One person with knowledge of the situation added the team addressed the matter with Daniels but did not issue a fine or any other form of discipline.
Aiyuk insinuated in a previous interview that, if traded, the Commanders would be among his preferred landing spots, presumably because of Daniels, his close friend and quarterback at Arizona State. The two are both from California and spent time together during the offseason, even attending Aiyuk’s appearance on “The Pivot Podcast” in Los Angeles together, creating more speculation about the receiver’s future.
Peters didn’t address the speculation Tuesday; Aiyuk is under contract with the 49ers for the upcoming season.
Peters did address the near future of defensive tackle Johnny Newton, the Commanders’ second-round pick who was placed on the non-football injury list Friday. Newton underwent surgery for a Jones fracture in his left foot shortly after recovering from a partial Jones fracture in his right foot.
Peters said the team is pleased with Newton’s progress in his recovery and expects “it to be sooner rather than later that we release the reins.”
“Johnny’s been outstanding in his rehab, and we’ve had to hold him back,” Peters said. “… We’re just going to exercise caution — we’re not playing any games anytime soon. … We’re going to keep an eye on him throughout … but let him develop throughout training camp as well. He needs to get the reps just like everybody else.”
The reps that will be scrutinized the most in camp, however, will be those allotted to Daniels.
It would take a drastic turn for the Commanders not to have Daniels as their starter in Week 1, but the team has maintained publicly there will be a competition at quarterback, as with every other position, in camp.
“It’s not a secret,” Quinn said. “But it is a journey and a process, so as we’re going, when he’s ready, we’ll know. And when he’s ready, he’ll also know. But as far as the reps go, with him and Marcus [Mariota] and moving them around, there will be certain days that we’ll feature more of the other. … We’re not trying to hold back the info. When we know, we’ll say it.”
Quinn said the reason for not publicly appointing Daniels as the starter was not that the quarterback needs motivation or that the team has doubts about him. Rather, the plan is part of a teamwide focus on competition and player development.
“This is an extremely motivated player,” Quinn said of Daniels. “At every position this is the case. We’ve got great confidence and all of that, but like I said earlier, it’s not one size fits all. So as we’re going through this whole process, let’s make sure we are going to be about the competition and how things are going to go. We’re not going to miss one step of their development. That’s what this time of year is for.”