Feb. 6, 2026, 2:30 a.m. ET
After the Washington Commanders finished the 2025 season at 5-12, quarterback Jayden Daniels advocated for the return of offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury in 2026.
“I love working with Kliff,” Daniels said. “Me and him have a special relationship. We have kind of built that over the past two years.”
It didn’t matter, as head coach Dan Quinn had already determined he was going in another direction next season, moving on from Kingsbury on January 6 and promoting assistant quarterbacks coach David Blough to replace him.
We haven’t heard from Daniels since Kingsbury’s departure, but he was in California for Super Bowl week and appeared on NBC’s Pro Football Talk, where he discussed the offensive coordinator change.
“Man, it’s tough, obviously, I trust what the organization is doing, and it was just tough,” Daniels said. “I have a relationship with him, and I wish him nothing but the best, but I’m also excited to get to work with Blough. And what he can do. I’ve been with Blough for both of my years in the NFL, so I’m most definitely excited about that.”
While Daniels and Kingsbury were close, he was arguably just as close with Blough, who worked closely with him over the past two seasons. A former NFL quarterback, Blough quit playing in 2023 and became a coach in 2024. On Fridays during the season, Daniels and Blough play a game of PIG, which is the football version of HORSE.
Here’s Daniels and Blough playing PIG during the season.
Daniels spoke of his competition with Blough on Thursday.
“It’s on our fast Fridays, so we kinda have a certain window, and before we have to go to individuals,” Daniels said explaining why the game is called PIG instead of HORSE.
“So, I think it’s like 7 or 8 minutes, so PIG is probably the easiest, quickest way to figure out who is going to win and who is going to lose.”
Daniels made it clear he always wins, and maybe one day, he will let Blough win.
There are a lot of unknowns surrounding Washington’s offense and Blough. It’s clear the Commanders believe in him. Had Washington not promoted him, the Detroit Lions were interested in hiring Blough as their offensive coordinator.
It’s clear the two have a close relationship, and Blough will design an offense that Daniels is comfortable with. While no details were provided, it’s expected to be a blend of what Kingsbury did and some elements of Ben Johnson’s offense, which Blough played in with Detroit.