Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels addressed the media after practice on Sept. 4. Here is a full transcript of the press conference.

*On his emotions ahead of the first regular season game: *"It is really the same. Day by day, be where my feet are. Not really focused on Sunday. I got to get through Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and then it'll be game day.

*On Tampa Bay Buccaneers' blitzing defense and if he has conversations with friends who faced them last season: *"I mean, honestly, I haven't really had a conversation with them because obviously they're getting ready for their respective games this weekend. So, I haven't really sat there and really had an in-depth conversation about it, but I mean, it's going to be a challenge, obviously. What [Buccaneers Head Coach Todd Bowles] has done over there, top 10 defense, stuff like that. They like to get the ball out, bring blitzes, get you in long situations so they could pin their ears back and get out their quarterback."

*On if it felt different being back in a college environment after adjusting to the NFL: *"Yeah, kind of. Just be able to, I mean, it felt weird not playing in college no more, being on the sidelines rooting them on. But it was a great experience to go back and really show face and be there for my ex-teammates."

*On if he feels comfortable with the steps he's taken to get ready for Week One: *"Yeah, for sure. I mean, I got a great foundation base, playing obviously it'll be tweaked week to week. It's not going to be a final product. Later down the season, that's when everything would kind of be set in stone of the routine and stuff like that. Not just me, but the coaching staff. Everybody's new together, so we all still trying to get a feel for each other."

*On how he gets in the mindset of treating this situation as "any other game": *"I mean, it's kind of just go out there and just playing football. Obviously, I'm [going to] embrace the moment, take it in. I'm officially in my first NFL game, but once that ball kicked out, none of that matters. So, gotta focus on try to execute at a high level and go out there and try to help the team win."

*On what he has seen over the past couple weeks that tells him the team is ready for Sunday: *"Yeah, I mean, just the preparation we have from OTA's or from my case and the other rookies, rookie minicamp to OTAs, to mandatory minicamp, to training camp. Just the work that we put into preparation. We got a lot of hard workers. They prepare, they prepare real hard, like vets, pros that they are. So from there, I mean, I have a huge belief that we'll be ready to go."

*On what G Sam Cosmi's contract extension says about investing long-term in the players defending him: *"Man, Sam deserves it. Happy for him. Obviously, we heard the news earlier, but he deserves it. It is gonna be, it is good for him and his family. It's good for us long term to have a player like that, a cornerstone piece moving forward.

*On how he is gaining from QB Marcus Mariota's experience against a defense lead by Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Head Coach Todd Bowles: *"Man, I'm leaning on Marcus a ton. He is in the same position as me. He played Todd Bowles numerous times, so obviously has a lot of knowledge of this is what you can expect. Obviously, everybody talks about the blitzes. Obviously, we're gonna expect some type of blitz, but his main message to me is, 'Man, just go out there and have fun'. Don't put too much stress into it. Go out there and play football that I've been playing my whole life."

*On how he is going to calm his nerves stepping out onto the field for the first time: *"Man, I mean, it's kind of like butterflies before every game, so nothing changes. It's kind of just the same thing, go out there. Once that ball is kicked and I run on the field, take a deep breath, be where your feet are and go play football."

*On if he is in a better position as a rookie QB because of Head Coach Dan Quinn's plan with him and if he wanted to do more: *"Yeah, I'm a competitor obviously I want to go a little bit more, but it wasn't the plan that they had. They didn't necessarily, they told me, 'You know, we're gonna bring you along'. But they didn't really tell me these are the steps that we wanna see you hit. Just going out there and just getting better each and every day and progressing. So, they felt comfortable. I started getting more and more comfortable within the offense and grasping it, but I mean, that's just kind of just the work that I put in. No matter what, you gotta go out there and earn everything. I don't want anything handed to me. So, I respect "DQ" and [General Manager Adam Peters] "AP" for that."

*On if he goes through different daily phases to prepare for game day: *"Yeah, I mean, day to day obviously what we got, what the emphasis at practice is based on the install, stuff like that. That's kind of where my mindset is. But other than that, it's waking up kind of having the same routine and knowing that as a quarterback, you can't really have any bad days. Everybody's looking at you no matter what, but they also have your back to pick you up and be able to talk about stuff if you do have a bad day. But other than that, you gotta come in, you gotta go to work. And DQ expects that for me, expect us from everybody on the team."

*On WR Noah Brown and how fast he can develop relationships with new receivers: *"I mean, it's kind of just naturally going to happen. We have open communication. That's what I encourage everybody to do, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Especially within quarterback and receiver relationships. They gotta know what I'm thinking. I gotta know what they're thinking. We go from there and as much as we communicate, the more effective we'll be and then we can get on the same page."

*On if he is ready to stop the preparation and just play: *"I mean, that's what you, that's what you come here to do. You play football. I think we're kind of the only sport that practice more they play. So, you kind of get anxious to go out there and you know you wanna play, you wanna play the game. And you know, that's what you get. That's what you get paid to do, go out there and play football."

*On how much say he gets in the game plan and first scripted plays of the game: *"Yeah, I mean, we haven't got there yet. Obviously, we're getting a script for the game, but it is just that comfortability to go over and talk to [Offensive Coordinator] Kliff Kingsbury if obviously I don't want us to run no bad plays. So if I don't like a certain thing or anybody, you could go over there, talk to Kliff, have a conversation about it, and ultimately if you don't like it, he don't want to, he's not going to want to call it because if I'm not confident, he's not confident. I mean, it's gonna be a bad play."

*On how excited he is to be in a game scenario with TE Zach Ertz: *"Super excited. I mean, obviously, what he's done in this league, obviously a vet. We didn't get to play in preseason, but just the rapport that we built over camp and everything, man, I'm excited to go out there and see it live in the real game."

*On how he prepares for a coach he hasn't faced before: *"Yeah, I mean, that's kind of what it is in college too. You gotta have a base, but at the end of the day, you gotta go out there and play football. Can't really try to go out there and try to figure out everything, the pieces to the puzzle. You have a base, they give us a base. We're not gonna be right every time, but if we get all 11 guys on the same page, we got a shot."

*On preparing to beat the blitz: *"I mean, just talk about it in the protection meetings, stuff like that. Be able to just communicate this is what they're seeing, this is the call that we're thinking, and then we go out to practice. Obviously, we're just trying to get everybody on the same page."

*On what he gets out of mock games: *"I mean, just to be able to go out there and see different looks. You don't have to go full speed, a hundred percent, but you go out there, you could train your mind. Mentally you could go fast and prepare the same way as you prepare like the day of practice or tomorrow or leading up to a game.

*On his reaction to the news of San Francisco 49ers WR Ricky Pearsall shooting: *"Yeah, I talked to him. He's doing good, but I mean, it's just a blessing. That's one of my brothers that I wouldn't say we grew up together from day one, but we built that connection. We grew up, we both came to college at 18. Obviously, I don't wanna see nobody go through that, so, I tell him he is blessed. Obviously, it was a scary sight, but I'm happy that he's on his way to recovery and he's doing fine"