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Rohit's Ranji return lasts 19 balls as he falls for 3 against J&K
Rohit, India's Test and ODI captain who has been going through a terrible run of form, was the focus of a lot of attention in the lead-up to the game as soon as he confirmed his presence in the game with a nod and "I will" at the Champions Trophy squad announcement press conference last week. With a white floppy hat and sunglasses on, Rohit was relaxed before the game, joking with his team-mates as they warmed up with some head volleyball.
It was a cool winter morning in Mumbai, a relief after a week that saw temperatures touch the mid-30s. And J&K's opening bowlers made sure to make use of the early-morning nip.
Rohit managed to drive a Nabi delivery through the covers for a couple in the next over but once again was kept quiet by Mir, who got his reward on his 17th ball. He bowled a length delivery on the fifth stump, with a hint of movement away from the right-hand batter. Rohit looked to play his trademark pick-up shot over midwicket but only managed to get a leading edge to the off side. Paras Dogra ran a few yards to his left from mid-off to extra cover, called loud and clear, and pouched it to end Rohit's stay in the middle.
The short stay in the middle meant that Rohit's lean run in red-ball cricket continued. Across five home Tests against Bangladesh and New Zealand at home last year, he had just one half-century to show - against New Zealand in Bengaluru - with four single-digit scores across ten innings. He also had just one double-digit score in five innings in Australia, where he played in three of the five Test matches. He finished the 2024-25 Test season with a batting average of 10.93.
Rohit's first-class batting average of 10.43 across 16 innings in the 2024-25 season is the second-lowest for any batter since 2006 (for a minimum of 15 innings while batting in the top six). England's Haseeb Hameed averaged 9.44 across 18 innings in the 2018 season.
Before Rohit, Jaiswal fell. Nabi managed to get his line right against the left-hand batter, getting a couple of balls to move away. One of those narrowly missed the outside edge of Jaiswal's bat - a muted appeal was given not out. On the next ball - the third ball of the third over - Nabi got a length ball to jag back viciously; Jaiswal was caught off-guard, and was beaten on the inside edge and hit on the back leg right in front of middle and leg. He was quite deep in the crease and the umpire took little time in raising the finger. Jaiswal, who was one of India's most successful batters at the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, dragged himself off with 4 against his name.
After the close of play Nazir, who took 4 for 41, said Rohit's wicket was a "prized" one. "A good ball is a good ball against any player, you don't look at the stature of the player. But Rohit Sharma's wicket is a big one, I am happy. When you dismiss an international player, it is always a prized wicket. There was some help from the surface, I tried to bowl in right areas. Rohit Sharma is a big name and his wicket was important for us and for me, personally, as well."
"I slept off at 10pm last night and woke up around 7am and was quite relaxed," Nazir said. "I tried to bowl fuller lengths because of the bounce on the surface. [When Rohit was dismissed] the first thought in my mind I did not celebrate because I am a big fan of Rohit Sharma. If we manage to win this game, it would be a proud moment for me, and the team, because India's captain is playing in the opposition."
Heather Knight admits 'frustration' at rainy finish as Ashes hopes are washed away
Knight was going strong on 43 not out from 19 balls, having just struck Annabel Sutherland's first ball of the final over for four, when umpires Ben Treloar and Eloise Sheridan decided the rain in Canberra - which had already caused a 20-minute mid-innings delay - was too heavy to ignore. She was visibly furious as she left the field, but later admitted her reaction was pure "frustration" at being denied the chance to "do something special".
"It was right decision by the umpires," Knight said. "I was really in the zone to try and win us that game, and obviously frustrated that we were going off, but it wasn't at the umpires at all. It was pretty wet, even when we were running it felt pretty slippy and it was quite hard to attack those twos. So yeah, it was the right decision, 100%."
The match was called off minutes later to confirm England's defeat by six runs on Duckworth-Lewis-Stern, and hand the Australians an unassailable 10-0 lead in the Ashes points table, with the third T20I to come in Adelaide on Saturday, followed by next week's one-off Test at the MCG.
"It was brilliant game of cricket," Knight said, after England had finished on 168 for 4 in reply to Australia's 185 for 5. "I felt like I could get us over the line. I felt really set, and I had some really good boundary options on a very good cricket wicket. It was an awesome crowd and they deserved a finish, and you could hear the frustration from the fans that that we were going off, and the game wasn't able to reach its conclusion."
"As a batting group, we've been disappointed that we haven't showed off our best cricket, and I think tonight was certainly our best," Knight said. "We knew it was going to be tough and a lot had to go our way, but I'm really proud of the way we fought in the run-chase. We showed some brilliant skill level, brilliant intent, brilliant fighting spirit, led by Danni in particular, to try and get us over the line."
The "mongrel" comment itself stemmed from a pre-match pep-talk from Courtney Winfield-Hill, England's assistant coach, and on the face of it, seemed to mark a departure from the team's familiar mantra of "inspire and entertain", a notion that has sounded increasingly hollow with each new loss on this tour. Knight, however, insisted that the team's recognition of their status as role models remained integral to their ethos, even though she acknowledged that professional cricket is ultimately a results business.
"It's still a mantra that is really important to this team," she said. "We're always at our best when we're trying to take the game on and enjoy it, but obviously, there's more to cricket than that, and we know that it's not as simple as just saying we want to entertain. We also want to win at the end of the day.
"We haven't done that this trip, and there's a lot of players frustrated and hurting that we haven't done that. We all really care about playing for England, and representing a team that's really special."
Despite the improved performance, and her own contribution with the bat, Knight acknowledged that the confirmation of England's Ashes loss would heighten the scrutiny on her position as captain after nine years at the helm.
"I guess in any leadership position, you always feel the responsibility when the teams aren't performing well and we haven't performed as well as we want to, across the board," she said. "It's certainly frustrating, but that's not really a question for now. I'm just focused on what we need to do to try and win the next game, and try and turn things around. Whatever happens at the end of the tour, that'll be a conversation for later."
Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket
Australia opener Marcus Harris joins Lancashire
The left-handed opener will be available for the club's County Championship and Metro Bank One-Day Cup campaigns through to September. He is due to arrive in the UK ahead of Lancashire's opening Championship fixture against Middlesex at Lord's, which begins on April 4.
Acquiring someone of Harris' standing brings vital experience to Emirates Old Trafford, which head coach Dale Benkenstein cited as vital for an immediate return to Division One after the county were relegated in 2024. Lancashire were keen to bring back New Zealand star Daryl Mitchell, who impressed with bat and ball during a stint in 2023, only for the allrounder to secure a lucrative Platinum deal with PSL franchise Lahore Qalandars.
Harris has 12 Test caps for Australia, three of which came in the 2019 Ashes when the tourists secured the urn in Manchester. He came close to a recall for the home Test series against Australia, only for selectors to opt for Nathan McSweeney and then Sam Konstas.
The 32-year-old has been a consistent performer domestically, and currently boasts 445 runs at an average of 49.44 for Victoria in this season's Sheffield Shield. He is also well-versed in county cricket following spells at Leicestershire (2021 and 2024) and Gloucestershire (2022 and 2023), averaging 48.39 from 29 first-class appearances across both teams, with nine centuries.
"I am really excited by the opportunity to join Lancashire for the English summer and will give my all to help this great Club win promotion back to Division One of the County Championship," Harris said, via a statement from Lancashire on Thursday.
"Emirates Old Trafford holds some special memories for me after we retained the Ashes there back in 2019 and I know that Nathan Lyon and Chris Green have both spoken so highly about their time at the club.
"I have really enjoyed my time playing county cricket in England over the last few years and to start a new challenge with Lancashire is something which I am really looking forward to getting stuck into."
Director of Cricket Performance Mark Chilton said: "Marcus is an experienced operator with international pedigree and has a proven track record of scoring runs at the top of the order in domestic cricket in Australia and England.
"He has a strong record in England, following a number of games with both Leicestershire and Gloucestershire in recent years. We are looking forward to working with Marcus and believe that he will play a key role as we look to earn promotion back into Division One at the first time of asking.
"It was important to us that we got somebody on board who was going to be available for the majority of the County Championship this summer with the appropriate pedigree, and Marcus ticks that box, while he will also add valuable experience to our side in the One-Day Cup during August."
West Indies quick Anderson Phillip is the club's other overseas signing, and is available through to July for the first 11 Championship matches.
Ranji round-up: Rohit, Gill and Pant miss out, Siddharth Desai misses perfect ten
Highlights from the opening day of the sixth round of matches
Rohit's big miss on Ranji return
Rohit's dismissal quickly followed Yashasvi Jaiswal's after Mumbai opted to bat first. Ajinkya Rahane, the captain, and Shreyas Iyer also managed just 12 and 11 respectively in a first innings that lasted just 33.2 overs with Mumbai bowled out for 120. But excellent work with the ball means Mumbai have a chance of limiting their deficit to under three figures.
Gill and Punjab collapse against swing and seam
Pant misses out; Jadeja takes five on Rajkot turner
In reply, Saurashtra were adrift by 25 at stumps but had lost five wickets, including those of Cheteshwar Pujara and Jadeja, who has top-scored so far with 38. Pujara, who isn't part of India's Test plans, made just 6. Apart from the 234 he made against Chhattisgarh, Pujara has endured modest returns so far this season, managing scores of 16, 0, 2, 3 and 14 in his other innings.
Siddarth Desai misses perfect 10
Desai ended with 9 for 36, the best figures in first-class cricket by a Gujarat player, bettering the record held by Jasu Patel who picked up 8 for 21 against Saurashtra in 1960-61. Desai who scalped a match haul of nine wickets on debut, against Kerala back in 2017-18, has emerged as Gujarat's front-line spinner since Piyush Chawla left to return to his home state Uttar Pradesh.
Khaleel takes maiden five-for
Khaleel's performance coincides with his being on the fringes of the national team, especially with the selectors keen on looking for left-arm seamers, a style of bowler India's Test attack has missed since Zaheer Khan's exit. This is only Khaleel's 17th first-class fixture - three of them have come in the current Ranji season (including this game), and two in August in the Duleep Trophy, in which he took nine wickets at 21.66.
Shiffrin, healed from puncture, to race next week
Six weeks ago, Mikaela Shiffrin didn't have the core strength to rise out of a chair. A sneeze or a laugh brought on instant pain.
That was all due to a serious crash in a giant slalom race Nov. 30 in Killington, Vermont, where something punctured her in the side -- still a mystery -- and caused severe trauma to her oblique muscles.
It has been a demanding and difficult road back for the fast-healing Shiffrin, who plans to make her World Cup return at a slalom race in Courchevel, France, next Thursday.
Her journey to the start gate included preventative surgery to ward off an infection inside a wound that penetrated through three layers of muscle to hours of arduous rehab to reactivate those crucial core muscles to feeling comfortable again weaving through a course.
That's why Shiffrin's focus is solely on progression, not so much her pursuit of World Cup win No. 100. Given where she was, just to make it back this quick from an injury that's not exactly common for a ski racer and resulted in her physical therapist consulting with baseball and hockey teams, it's already a big win.
"It's going to be a little bit nerve-racking, to be honest," Shiffrin told The Associated Press. "These past six weeks, every step it's like, 'Geez, should this be hurting less? Should I be better at this? Should I be more tolerant of the pain?' There are so many questions that come up in your mind of basically whether or not you're doing well enough.
"But when we take a step back and look where we are now ... it's pretty exciting."
Shiffrin has repeatedly watched the crash. She's analyzed precisely what happened in a race where she was leading and looked headed toward milestone win No. 100.
Long story short: She put too much weight on her inside ski on an aggressive line.
"I was like, 'I'll be hanging on for dear life, but it's going to be fast,'" said the 29-year-old Shiffrin, whose plans for the world championships in Austria next month include racing the slalom and giant slalom.
Shiffrin hit the snow, smashed into the gate, toppled over her skis and slid into the protective fence. She suffered no serious bone or ligament damage, but something impaled her.
She's scrutinized over what the object might have been, with theories ranging from her ski pole to a piece of the gate. Fans have even reached out to offer their thoughts.
Only later did she find out just how close of call it was: whatever stabbed her nearly punctured her abdominal wall and colon.
"A millimeter from pretty catastrophic," Shiffrin said. "Then it was like, 'Your colon is intact. This is just a hole in your side. That's fine.' I'm like, 'But there's still a hole in my side and I can't move.'"
This was such a unique injury to ski racing. Her physical therapist, Regan Dewhirst, reached out to the training staffs of the Los Angeles Angels and Edmonton Oilers for advice, since baseball and hockey players have had their share of oblique ailments. Each helped provide a framework for Shiffrin's recovery.
"The biggest thing was to make sure you get her moving in a pain-free way as quickly as possible," Dewhirst said. "Get the muscle activated properly, and then once it's activating, you need to try to introduce these sport-specific motions as soon as you can."
They took the necessary steps at Shiffrin's pace. If she felt good, they were aggressive. If she needed to rest, they rested. She was looking at a 6- to 12-week timeline for a return, but no one knew for sure.
"Every step of the way, it's gone as well as we could hope," said Shiffrin, who is engaged to Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, the Norwegian ski star sidelined this season with an injury. "We've been pushing too."
Shiffrin returned to skiing Jan. 1. A few simple runs to "get at those ski-specific motions you really can't simulate in a controlled gym space," Dewhirst said.
Two weeks later, Shiffrin was back in the slalom gates. Again, some very easy turns to start.
"Just slowly taking on the progression and not throwing in too much into the fire at once," said Shiffrin, a two-time Olympic champion who has a "new" teammate on the U.S. ski team after the comeback of Lindsey Vonn. "It's kind of hard to explain to people just how much you put your body through just to make one single slalom or GS turn, let alone 55 to 60 in a row."
Earlier this week, she had a little hiccup that sent her heart racing. She hit a pile of snow in a training run, one ski slid into the other, and she nearly fell.
It was reminiscent of her crash.
"That was scary," Shiffrin said. "But I was also like, 'There it is.' I have to desensitize to those little things again because you don't ski a full-length race course without some little moments of like, 'That was kind of scary.'"
Shiffrin departs for Europe this week, and the plan is to increase the intensity ahead of the Courchevel competition.
But that plan remains fluid.
"If for whatever reason something crops up and it's not quite there yet, no big deal," Dewhirst said. "This is an evolving continuum."
Shiffrin won't be racing any downhill events this season but is leaving the door open for an occasional super-G.
"It depends on how much we can fit into a really short time crunch," Shiffrin said. "For me, it's just been put your head down and do the work and just do this as well as you can."
Keys regroups, upsets Swiatek in 3rd-set tiebreak
When Madison Keys finally finished off her 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (8) upset of No. 2 Iga Swiatek in a high-intensity, high-quality Australian Open semifinal Thursday night, saving a match point along the way, the 29-year-old American crouched on the court and placed a hand on her white hat.
She had a hard time believing it all. The comeback. What Keys called an "extra dramatic finish." The victory over five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek, who had been on the most dominant run at Melbourne Park in a dozen years. And now the chance to play in a Grand Slam final for a second time, eight years after being the US Open runner-up.
"I'm still trying to catch up to everything that's happening," said the 19th-seeded Keys, who will face No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday for the trophy. "I felt like I was just fighting to stay in it. ... It was so up and down and so many big points."
Just to be sure, Keys asked whether Swiatek was, indeed, one point from victory. She was, serving at 6-5, 40-30, before missing a backhand into the net then getting broken by double-faulting to send the contest to a first-to-10, win-by-two tiebreaker.
"I felt like I blacked out there at some point," Keys said, "and was out there running around."
Whatever she was doing, it worked in the end. Keys claimed more games in the semifinal than the 14 total that Swiatek dropped in her five previous matches over the past two weeks.
Sabalenka beat good friend Paula Badosa 6-4, 6-2 earlier Thursday. Sabalenka, a 26-year-old from Belarus, won the Australian Open the past two years and can become the first woman since 1999 to complete a three-peat.
"If she plays like this," the 11th-seeded Badosa said about Sabalenka, "I mean, we can already give her the trophy."
The last woman to reach three finals in a row at the year's first Grand Slam tournament was Serena Williams, who won two from 2015 to 2017. Martina Hingis was the most recent woman with a three-peat, doing it from 1997 to 1999.
Swiatek had not lost a service game since the first round but was broken three times by Keys in the first set alone and eight times in all.
That included each of Swiatek's first two times serving, making clear from the get-go this would not be her usual sort of day. While Swiatek did eke out the opening set, she was overwhelmed in the second, trailing 5-0 before getting a game.
This was the big-hitting Keys at her best. She turns 30 next month, and at the suggestion of her coach Bjorn Fratangelo, who's a former player as well as her husband, she decided to try a new racket this season, an effort both to help her with generating easy power but also to relieve some strain on her right shoulder.
It's certainly paid immediate dividends. Keys is on an 11-match winning streak, including taking the title at a tuneup event in Adelaide.
She was good enough to get through this one, which was as tight as can be down the stretch.
"At the end, I feel like we were both kind of battling some nerves. ... It just became who can get that final point and who can be a little bit better than the other one," Keys said. "And I'm happy it was me."
Keys' victory made her the first woman to come from a set down to win an Australian Open semifinal since Venus Williams in 2017; Williams defeated CoCo Vandeweghe before losing to her sister Serena in the final.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Allen, Saquon, Lamar among AP NFL MVP finalists
Josh Allen, Saquon Barkley, Joe Burrow, Jared Goff and Lamar Jackson are finalists for The Associated Press 2024 NFL Most Valuable Player award.
Barkley, Burrow and Jackson also are finalists for Offensive Player of the Year and Burrow is also in the running for Comeback Player of the Year.
The winners will be announced at NFL Honors on Feb. 6. A nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league completed voting before the playoffs began.
Here are the finalists, in alphabetical order, for the eight AP NFL awards:
Barkley ran for 2,005 yards (the eighth-best total in NFL history). He sat out Philadelphia's final regular-season game when he needed 101 yards to break Eric Dickerson's single-season record. Barkley helped the Eagles win the NFC East and advance to the conference championship game.
Burrow led the NFL with a career-high 4,918 yards passing and 43 TDs, but the Cincinnati Bengals finished 9-8 and missed the playoffs.
Goff threw for 4,629 yards, 37 TDs and nine interceptions and led Detroit to the No. 1 seed in the NFC. The Lions were eliminated in the divisional round by Washington.
Jackson, the reigning winner, is seeking his third MVP award after leading the Ravens to an AFC North title. Jackson had career highs with 4,172 yards passing, 41 TDs (to just four interceptions) and a 119.6 passer rating, which led the NFL. He was a first-team All-Pro for the third time and also ran for 915 yards and four TDs. The Ravens were knocked out of the divisional round by Allen and the Buffalo Bills.
Chase won the receiving triple crown, leading the league with 127 receptions, 1,708 yards and 17 TDs. The Bengals star wide receiver was a unanimous selection for All-Pro.
Henry, the 2020 Offensive Player of the Year, had 1,921 yards rushing and 16 TDs in his first season with the Ravens.
All-Pro edge rusher Myles Garrett, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, had 14 sacks for the Cleveland Browns.
Bengals All-Pro edge rusher Trey Hendrickson led the NFL with 17 sacks.
Broncos All-Pro cornerback Patrick Surtain II allowed just 37 receptions and had four picks, and opposing quarterbacks had a 61.1 passer rating throwing against him
Steelers edge rusher T.J. Watt, the 2021 winner, had 11 sacks and forced six fumbles.
Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels led his team to an eight-win improvement and has it one win away from a Super Bowl appearance. He threw for 3,568 yards and 25 TDs and posted a 100.1 rating. Daniels also ran for 891 yards and six scores.
Giants receiver Malik Nabers had 109 catches for 1,204 yards and seven TDs.
Broncos QB Bo Nix helped the team reach the playoffs for the first time in nine years. He had 3,775 yards passing, 29 TDs and 12 picks and ran for 430 yards and four scores.
Jaguars receiver Brian Thomas Jr. caught 87 passes for 1,282 yards and 10 TDs.
Rams defensive tackle Braden Fiske led the team and all rookies with 8 sacks. He had 51 pressures, two forced fumbles and recoveries, 10 tackles for loss and 10 quarterback hits.
Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell allowed 40 receptions and had nine pass breakups, and quarterbacks had an 87 passer rating against him.
Dolphins edge Chop Robinson had six sacks, 20 pressures and eight tackles for loss.
Rams edge Jared Verse had 4 sacks but led all rookies in quarterback hits (18), pressures (77) and hurries (56). He also had 11 tackles for loss.
Campbell guided the Lions (15-3) to the NFC's No. 1 seed. Connell led the Vikings (14-4) to the playoffs despite losing Kirk Cousins in free agency and rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy to a season-ending knee injury in training camp.
Payton helped the Broncos (10-8) overcome salary-cap woes stemming from the decision to release Russell Wilson and ended a nine-year playoff drought.
Quinn took over a 4-13 team and turned the Commanders into a 12-win playoff team.
Reid had the Chiefs (16-2) back atop the AFC as the No. 1 seed in a quest for a third straight Super Bowl victory.
Poise, unreal game prep and poking a GOAT: How Washington knew Jayden Daniels was special from the start
ASHBURN, Va. -- Back in the spring, well before Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels had been named the team's starter, veteran teammates such as tight end Zach Ertz and wide receiver Terry McLaurin had a feeling the rookie would excel in the NFL.
By the end of training camp, they were certain.
"I was telling everyone that would listen how good he would be," Ertz said. "Just something got me really excited. I knew there would be some growing pains, but his ability to work and his humility to get better is what sets him apart."
Now, the rest of the NFL is catching up.
Daniels has been a transformational player for the Commanders this season, helping the franchise rebound from a 4-13 campaign in 2023 to a 14-5 record (including the playoffs) and playing in its first NFC Championship Game since the 1991 season. And if they can beat the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, Fox), he will become the first rookie QB to start in a Super Bowl.
During the regular season, Daniels ranked fourth in QBR, behind MVP front-runners Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow. Over his two postseason games, he has the highest Total QBR (86.8), throwing for 567 yards passing and four touchdowns and amassing another 87 yards rushing while fueling Washington to road upsets over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and top-seeded Detroit Lions in the wild-card and divisional rounds, respectively.
Teammates, coaches and members of the organization say Daniels' on-field success was sowed by what he has shown them behind the scenes since his arrival. They've observed a diligent student who loves to prepare, an inquisitive mind with attention to detail uncommon for rookie QBs, an instinctual leader, a cool head who embraces -- and excels in -- big moments and a competitor who's also able to have fun in any situation.
During a minicamp session in June, McLaurin -- who had played with 10 different starting quarterbacks in Washington from 2019 to 2023 -- was asked about Daniels. He beamed as he spoke about the rookie's preparation and desire for extra reps after practice.
A day later, as McLaurin warmed up on the sideline before practice, a reporter told the six-year pro that he had never looked or sounded so enthusiastic about a quarterback.
"He's the real deal," McLaurin said.
SHORTLY AFTER THE organized team activities began in late May, Ertz had seen enough of Daniels to make a bold comparison.
"I compared him to Andrew Luck, which is the ultimate compliment," Ertz said.
Luck, the former No. 1 overall pick in 2012 who was tabbed as a generational quarterback prospect, played with Ertz at Stanford.
"Andrew had a gravitational pull. Guys just wanted to be around him," Ertz said. "He just wanted to be one of the guys and Jayden is very similar. Guys just want to be around him because he doesn't view himself as anyone other than one of the guys.
"His approach to the game has really been different compared to a lot of people I've been around. A lot of times when you're young there's a lot of trial and error and oftentimes, you're reactionary in terms of how your process is: 'After I fail a couple times maybe I'll do X, Y and Z more.' Whereas Jayden from the moment he first got here he was the first one in the building studying as much as possible."
Washington's plan in the spring was to have Daniels earn the starting job through his preparation, habits and play throughout the offseason program. As a result, Daniels worked with the second unit while veteran Marcus Mariota took snaps as the starter.
But for Ertz, it was clear early Daniels would be QB1 when the 2024 season started (the Commanders made it official on Aug. 19). Daniels' eagerness to learn stood out. The rookie was constantly talking to veterans during practice, from Ertz to McLaurin to 11-time All-Pro linebacker Bobby Wagner, peppering them with questions.
Anticipating Daniels' eventual promotion, Ertz said he began asking to run with the second-team offense in two-minute drills to get more time -- and a head start -- with Washington's future quarterback.
"The physical tools stood out immediately," Ertz said, "the way the ball popped out of his hands. [But] it was the stuff that not everyone sees that stuck out the most."
Washington guard Sam Cosmi saw it too. When he signed a four-year, $74 million extension days before the season started, he cited Daniels as one of the reasons he was thrilled to have his future tied to the franchise.
"We got a special, special dude," Cosmi said in September. "That makes me excited to be here."
Daniels got the coaching staff's attention early as well. During a rookie minicamp session in early May, passing game coordinator Brian Johnson was left in awe as he watched Daniels operate in practice.
"He came out here and it was like bang, bang, bang, bang," Johnson said. "Just completion after completion and the ball didn't hit the ground. He had the install completely dialed and locked in. You become impressed, not only by the results [but] by the work and the action. It's not what you say, it's what you do -- and he goes out there and does it every single day."
Daniels has continued his impressive displays to teammates throughout the season. During a late November practice, safety Jeremy Reaves played a coverage in a way that surprised Daniels. After practice, Daniels asked Reaves why he had done it that way, and, "Do I need to do better with my eyes here? From a concept standpoint how can we make it [better]?"
"It's refreshing," Reaves said. "You don't see that a lot."
Ertz agreed.
"I've been around high draft picks -- they feel they have all the answers," Ertz said. "Jayden was the complete opposite. He's asking me about certain plays, why I ran a certain route this time, how could the timing be a little better. It was the humility that stood out to me."
IN WEEK 5 against the Cleveland Browns, McLaurin finished with four catches for 112 yards. But up 31-6 in the third quarter, he couldn't hang onto a pass in the corner of the end zone. It was not officially ruled a drop, but McLaurin considered it one and he had already fumbled that quarter.
It bothered him on the bench, and Daniels noticed.
"I expect a lot of myself," McLaurin said. "He came over to me and sat down and talked to me and was like, 'First of all, we're winning. You're playing great. You're going to make that play nine times out of 10. We trust you and I trust you, so I'm going to continue to come back to you and don't sweat the small mishaps.'"
Later in the season against Atlanta, McLaurin was held to one catch for five yards. Again, Daniels noticed. And again, after throwing a third-quarter touchdown pass to Ertz, Daniels ran over to McLaurin and said, "Hey, look at me. Stay in it. You're going to make a play."
McLaurin found opportunities to reciprocate. One week after beating the Browns, Washington lost at Baltimore 30-23. A visibly angry Daniels sat on a cooler next to the bench as the Ravens ran out the clock -- it was a look McLaurin had not previously seen from the QB.
"I've never seen a quarterback that upset after a game," McLaurin said. "He wasn't throwing his helmet, he wasn't cussing anybody out, but you could see how mad and frustrated he was. That spoke to me. You could tell how much he cares. ... I told him, 'I love seeing that in you; don't ever lose that fire of hating to lose a game. That's what's going to make you different.'"
Daniels also has the ability to build relationships, which has especially been evident with Wagner -- a Super Bowl champ and future Hall of Famer. The two developed a bond early on; Daniels talked often with veterans but became closer with the former leader of Seattle's "Legion of Boom" defense.
The ease with which Daniels developed a rapport with such a star veteran was uncommon for a rookie, teammates and coaches said. They sit together front and center in team meetings. They also bicker like siblings, with Daniels unafraid to needle the 13-year pro who is 10 years his senior.
In a news conference earlier this month, Daniels began an answer about Wagner by saying, "He's annoying" before praising Wagner's leadership.
When asked what was annoying about Wagner, Daniels deadpanned to reporters, "Everything."
On New Year's Day, Wagner was asked about having Daniels and other rookies on their leadership committee. As he started to answer, Daniels walked past and said, "Shut up, Bobby."
"See, I'm trying to give him a compliment and on cue he just messes it up," Wagner said.
Daniels walked past again, and Wagner yelled to him, "Pull your pants up."
The reply: "Bobby Wagner's annoying."
"This is how we're starting the new year off," Wagner said.
DANIELS ARRIVES AT the Commanders' facility between 5 and 5:30 a.m. every Wednesday through Friday during the season to begin working on the game plan for the upcoming opponent.
Daniels spends around 30 minutes watching film, sometimes alone in the quarterbacks meeting room and other times on his iPad while soaking in the hot tub. Then, around 6 a.m., Daniels, Kingsbury and quarterbacks coach Tavita Pritchard head over to the practice bubble to walk through the approximately 60 to 70 plays on the game plan list for that week.
"I mean, 6 a.m. is early for a younger cat," Kingsbury said, "[Daniels] wants to be there. That's the thing I appreciate. I've never once felt that energy [from him] like, 'Oh, here we go again.' It's like, 'Let's go!' And that to me is the most impressive thing I've seen so far is just the want to be great and the competitive stamina to be ... always open to learning."
Indeed, Daniels does preparation with Washington's virtual reality technology -- something he started his last year at LSU -- and work on the headset either before or after practice every day. But Kingsbury said, "He likes to be out there doing it, seeing it."
"The best lesson in life is failure," Daniels said of the extra reps the morning walk-throughs afford him. "So, I get to fail in those types of situations and move forward. So, by the time game time comes, I'm not thinking about [it], just going out there and playing."
To simulate game situations, Kingsbury calls in the plays with his phone, then runs routes. Daniels, wearing a helmet, gets the playcall through his AirPods before receiving the snap from Pritchard. Before the snap, Kingsbury tells Daniels what coverage he should expect and reminds him about his drops and reads. The goal, they say, is to paint a mental picture so Daniels can visualize what it would look like in a game.
Kingsbury is often the primary receiver. Sometimes he'll say he's covered so Daniels has to find his next read. The three men go over various in-game scenarios: 30 seconds left, need a touchdown, red zone work. They'll call out one-word plays that have multiple options and a specific snap count -- a two-word play, Taylor Swift, resulted in a touchdown pass to rookie Ben Sinnott earlier this year.
Kingsbury and Pritchard said Daniels rarely needs a reminder of his responsibility on a given play.
"He's had this material for less than 12 hours," Pritchard said. "He's really in tune with where we are already."
Daniels receives the game plan from the staff around 6 p.m. Tuesday, studies it for 90 minutes and often draws out the plays in a notebook.
"When I can get here in the morning, I'm able to go in there and kind of just walk through it and I'll visualize it, walk through this or the reads, footwork," he said, "and if I have any questions? Kliff and [Pritchard] are answering them right then and there."
Daniels' meticulous game prep doesn't end in the bubble. He texts Kingsbury about plays he's seen in other games or watched on YouTube. Kingsbury likes that the plays he sends match Washington's concepts.
On the morning of the season opener at Tampa Bay, Daniels asked Kingsbury for one more walk-through before heading to the stadium. So Kingsbury, Pritchard, assistant quarterbacks coach David Blough and quarterbacks Mariota and Jeff Driskel headed to a ballroom for one final round of mental reps. This scene has repeated itself every game-day morning since -- a routine Kingsbury said he's never seen before but helps explain what he's seen from Daniels' way of processing all along.
"His football knowledge is beyond what I think any rookie quarterback anybody could ever possibly expect it to be," Kingsbury said. "He'll bring up things and I'm like, 'Yeah, I didn't even think about that, but it's a valid point.' He'll make corrections on plays that I've designed, I'll f--- him up and he'll be like, 'No, no coach, you were on this side when we were doing our walk-through.' 'Really? Yeah. OK. You're right.'"
And a key part of that knowledge is homed in the bubble, ending around two and a half hours before the first team meeting of the day.
"All I know," one assistant coach said, "is that when I get here they're coming out of the bubble."
DANIELS HAS ALREADY become known for being a late-game hero. He has led six game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime, which highlights the competitiveness and calmness under pressure teammates have seen from him all season.
There was the 27-yard pass to McLaurin in a Week 3 "Monday Night Football" win over Cincinnati with 2:17 left for a 38-26 lead. He led game-winning drives versus the New York Giants in Week 2; against Chicago in Week 8; against Philadelphia in Week 16; against Atlanta in Week 17; and at Tampa Bay in the wild-card playoff win on Jan. 12.
Daniels leads the NFL with six touchdown passes in the final four minutes of regulation (and posted a 95.6 quarterback rating).
"It's what you live for," he said. "I'm just competitive, man. I just want to win. I'm going to do whatever it takes to win."
During practices, Washington's quarterbacks will compete to see who the most accurate passer is while throwing into a net with three designated landing spots. On Fridays, they toss a ball from about 30 to 40 yards into a yellow garbage can positioned in the corner of the end zone. Afterward, Daniels and Blough play a game of horse with throws into the net.
"He likes to trash talk. He's got a good trash talk game. I'll give him that," Blough said. "I'm only 29, but he makes me feel like an old man sometimes and he can tell I don't have the same arm strength I used to and it's the reason I retired. He'll remind me of that."
The joy Daniels brings while competing shows itself in each game. Washington guard Nick Allegretti said sometimes he'll hear Daniels scream at the end of scrambles.
"It's the excitement to yell," Allegretti said. "It's like you're stealing yards, and it brings energy to the whole team. It definitely gives him juice. Whenever that happens the flow just starts to feel really, really good. He's cooking."
Teammates say Daniels is even-keeled in tense moments, which is a by-product, Daniels said, of all the work he's put in behind the scenes -- before the season and during.
After Washington beat Tampa Bay with a last-second field goal, Daniels sat stone-faced on the bench for a second, before standing up, smiling and then calmly walking to an interview.
"He has a very unique calmness about it," Johnson said. "A silent assassin."
A's add '89 Series MVP Stewart to front office
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Former World Series MVP Dave Stewart is returning to the Athletics in a front office role.
The A's announced Wednesday that Stewart will be a special assistant to player development this season. Stewart will assist director of player development Ed Sprague in his new role.
Stewart spent eight seasons in his 16-year career with the A's when the team was in Oakland. He won the World Series MVP for the A's in 1989, was AL Championship Series MVP in 1990 and was inducted into the A's Hall of Fame in 2018.
Stewart had four straight 20-win seasons for the A's from 1987-90 and his No. 34 jersey was retired by the club.
Stewart worked in the A's front office as an assistant to GM Sandy Alderson in 1996. He spent two seasons as general manager for Arizona in 2015-16, has worked as an agent and has had time as a pitching and executive for several other teams.
Hewett into wheelchair singles and doubles finals
Britain's Alfie Hewett maintained his chances of an Australian Open clean sweep by reaching the wheelchair singles final before progressing to the doubles final with partner Gordan Reid.
The second seed will face world number one Tokito Oda, who he lost to in last year's final, on Saturday after beating Argentine Gustavo Fernandez 6-3 6-3 in the last four.
Later, Hewett and fellow Briton Reid beat Spaniard Martin de la Puente and Ruben Spaargaren of the Netherlands 6-4 6-4 in the doubles semi-finals.
Top seeds Hewett and Reid, who have won the past five Melbourne doubles titles together, face Spain's Daniel Caverzaschi and Stephane Houdet of France on Friday.
Elsewhere, Britain's Andy Lapthorne advanced to the final of the quad wheelchair doubles final alongside Dutch partner Sam Schroder.
The pair defeated Australian-Canadian duo Heath Davidson and Robert Shaw 6-1 6-2 and take on Guy Sasson of Israel and the Netherlands' Niels Vink on Friday.
In the women's wheelchair doubles, Briton Lucy Shuker and Japanese partner Yui Kamiji were beaten 7-5 6-1 in their semi-final by Chinese duo Li Xiaohui and Wang Ziying.
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