It's important to temper all expectations for Jayden Daniels at this point in his career. Not only is it the first day of the Washington Commanders' training camp, but it's also been just a few months since Daniels' name was called as the No. 2 overall pick.

The Commanders are taking the slow and steady approach with Daniels, who is undeniably going to be the franchise's quarterback of the future. Head coach Dan Quinn has not named him the starter yet, saying during his joint press conference with general manager Adam Peters that "when we know, he'll know."

Quinn also described the decision to name Daniels the starter as "not a secret, but a journey," and there will certainly be some expected bumps along the path between now and September. That said, it was a smooth start for the Heisman Trophy winner. In fact, he looked pretty damn good.

Quinn said there will be days where either Mariota or Daniels will be featured more than the other. Today seemed like a day for Daniels, because aside from the first 11-on-11 period, Daniels received the first team reps in seven-on-seven and red zone drills.

The Commanders are going through a "ramp up" approach to training camp, so the first practice wasn't different from what they did in OTAs. Still, it was clear to see that Daniels hadn't missed a step from what he showed in June, as he zipped passes to his receivers and showed some explosiveness when required to scramble.

Daniels went 3-of-4 in his first series, capping things off with a touchdown to Zach Ertz. Daniels had two more scores in seven-on-seven drills, hitting Kazmeir Allen, who made a diving grab in the end zone, and John Bates.

The highlight of the day, however, came on a touchdown pass to Brian Robinson Jr., who managed to keep both feet in bounds on a throw towards the corner of the end zone. He finished that series completing all four of his passes with one handoff.

"He naturally has a good feel of where to position the ball, whether it's an in-breaking route, out-breaking route, a ball down the field," said wideout Terry McLaurin. "A lot of the things, he just naturally has the ability to have a feel for the game, which is very unique for any quarterback, but let alone a rookie."

Now that Day 1 is in the books, the key for Daniels will be to stack positive days throughout camp. The decision on when to name him the starter will likely take a few weeks, but assuming he can do that, it'll make things much easier for Quinn and the coaching staff.

Here are some more observations from the first day of camp:

-- The Commanders decided to activate rookie defensive tackle Johnny Newton off the active/non-football injury list to start camp just five days after initially placing him there. The expectation was that Newton, who has been recovering from surgery to repair a Jones fracture in his foot, would need more time before getting on the field. The team is still taking a cautious approach with Newton, relegating him to just individual work, but Quinn said that Newton being able to start camp on the first day is "great news."

"In my head, I thought it would be later, but just because of the progress he made, we were able to speed some of that up," Quinn said. "So that was good to see. Think of the first little bit of his training camp is that's his offseason training -- the technique work to go then get into practice and then go. So, we're playing where we got some space and some runway to make sure he doesn't miss one step of his development."

-- The only negative that came from Daniels' day was a pass breakup near the beginning of practice. That came from safety Tyler Owens, an undrafted free agent from Texas Tech. Like the rest of the undrafted players, Owens faces a difficult path towards making the roster, but making a play on the first day is a good start at making a lasting impression on his coaches.

-- The Commanders' receiver room is packed, and it's likely that some players we've gotten used to over the years are on the roster bubble. One of those players is Kazmeir Allen, a 2023 undrafted free agent from UCLA. Allen caught two touchdowns today, both of which came from Daniels. Allen is one of the more experienced returners on the roster, as he made a career out of it during his college days. Whether he earns a spot will depend on if he can stand out among the several other players, both rookies and veterans alike, who are competing for a spot in the restructured kickoff. Perhaps Allen is ready for the next step after spending his rookie season on the practice squad.

-- Daniels must develop a relationship with every player on the team, but his rapport with McLaurin is arguably one of the most important. The two got off to a good start during OTAs, as Daniels impressed McLaurin with his attention to detail and desire to get more work done after practice. The only way for that to improve is through getting as many reps as possible.

"The more reps we get, it's just gonna make us better. The good thing about it is, he's extremely communicative and I am too, so that really helps the relationship grow quicker. I just think the best thing for us to continue to talk about the reps that we have in practice in the film room."