Aaron Glenn: Jayden Daniels has fun, that’s why he’s successful

Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn isn’t just watching film of all 22 players to prepare for Saturday’s playoff game against Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels. Glenn also watches telecasts of Daniels’ matches to get a feel for how Daniels approaches the game. And Glenn is impressed by what he sees.

Glenn said this week that Daniels has never given a hint of struggling to adjust the way rookies sometimes do, and that Daniels’ joy of playing the game comes through and contributes to his success.

“His demeanor and how calm he is, that jumps out all over the TV copy, when you watch the TV copy,” Glenn said. “Another thing that jumps out is that he’s having fun playing this game, which everyone should. But you can tell he’s having fun, and there’s no better way to play this game than when you’re having fun. Obviously winning has a lot to do with it. But his ability to play – even when he’s not playing, he’s having fun playing the game. I think that’s one of the reasons why it’s so successful.”

This week, Glenn is hard at work trying to make sure Saturday won’t be fun for Daniels.