Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury spoke to the media before practice. Here is a full transcript of the press conference.

Here’s how he will prepare QB Jayden Daniels for his first start:
“Yeah, I don’t think that’s possible. It’s just what it is. The first guy in the NFL is a different experience, a different level of football, but he’s worked really hard to get ready for this moment and his teammates saw that. The coaches saw that and that definitely earned him respect and that helps a lot when things aren’t going well and you’re faced with adversity. So I’m excited to see him play myself. I know he’s going to rock it. He’s a tremendous competitor and he’s excited for the opportunity.”

On his first game in the NFL in several years:
“Yeah, I mean, we were up against one of the toughest defenses in the league. (Tampa Bay Buccaneers head) coach (Todd) Bowles has been one of the best defensive players in football for a long time, and for him to have an entire offseason to prepare for this game is always a tough challenge, but it’s going to be fun. I’m just really thankful for this opportunity and I try to take everything with a lot of gratitude. And this group has been great. They’ve worked really hard to prepare for this first game, and hopefully we can go out there and play at a high level.”

On T Brandon Coleman’s preparation for the regular season:
“We try to get a lot of live reps in practice. Well, good, as many as we can for him. It was unfortunate that he had that setback, but he’s worked really hard to come back and I think he’s going to feel good. I’m not sure exactly when we’re going to use him, how we’re going to use him, but eventually we will. We know that. He’s made great progress, we want to make sure he’s comfortable and has a chance to play at a high level whenever he’s out there.”

On WR Noah Brown and his contribution to the receiver room:
“He’s been really productive in this league. He’s had a couple of unfortunate injuries. I think there were a couple of seasons where he could have had really big numbers. But he’s very fast and can play inside and outside. He’s a great person and a hard worker. So everything we want here as a commander.”

On whether he’s designing plays for TE Zach Ertz to connect with Daniels:
“Yeah, Zach is a guy that’s been a good quarterback his whole career. He’s one of those guys that presents himself to the quarterback, finds a way to get free and create spacing. For a young quarterback going into his first live test, that’s always a nice hedge. We have to be smart with Zach and he’s not 24 anymore, so we have to be smart with how we use him and make sure he’s comfortable. But in my opinion, he’s definitely still one of the best tight ends in the NFL in terms of presentation to the quarterback, friendliness to the quarterback and reliability.”

On the question of how much freedom Daniels will have on offense on Sunday:
“Yeah, pretty much. He works really hard, like I said, he’s got the best seat in the house to do those things, and he’s shown us as a team that he’s capable of doing that. So we’ll give him a little free reign out there at times. If he sees good opportunities that he wants to take advantage of, we’ll let him attack, and that’s how he played at LSU. And we like that attack mentality. If we get the chance, let’s go for it.”

What he is most looking forward to in Week 1:
“Just being out there with that group of guys. Anytime you come in and it’s a new staff, a new offensive staff, the way they’ve contributed, the way they’ve worked. I’m just excited to see how it all comes together and see what they can do. I think that’s the most important thing. We’ve been practicing together for a long time and putting a lot of different pieces together, a lot of guys from all over the league have come together to see how good we can be and I’m just excited to see what that looks like.”

On finding the truth about head coach Dan Quinn and his perspective as a former head coach:
“Yeah, easy (laughs). I’ll say that. If it’s the truth, it’s like we’re getting to that point in some way. But no, you definitely have a different perspective after sitting there and then being an assistant again. You definitely want to be the best assistant you can be and keep things off your desk. But you see things that you don’t notice when you’re a head coach. When you’re a head coach, everything is great. Everyone tells you everything is amazing. And so when you hear different players or coaches talk, you get a feel for it. And we just try to relay relevant information as best as we can to help him as best as I can. I just want to be the best assistant for him that I can be and try to help him get to where he wants to go.”

What he learned from Quinn:
“Yeah, just the consistency as a guy and a leader. That’s what you get, what you all see. High energy, treating people right, motivating, that’s nonstop. It doesn’t matter. Good day, bad day, while he demands from his team and his staff, you bring it every day and you’re going to have some moments where you don’t get it right and you make a mistake and that’s not why he freaks out. It’s just when he doesn’t think you’re giving him everything you’ve got. And that’s been great to see, the way he treats people and the way he shows up at the office every day takes this place to a new level. And that to me is the greatest quality of a leader.”

About RB Brian Robinson Jr.
“Yeah, he was great. He loves football like no other player I know. He wants the ball, he wants it in the moments that matter. He wants to compete, he believes he can play receiver, tight end, running back, that’s how you want to be. And knowing his history, not many guys in Alabama persevere like that. That says a lot about you. You have to be tenacious, you have to be very determined to get where you want to go. And then to see him overcome the incident here and come back in such a short amount of time and then keep pushing, that was great. I’m really excited to see what he looks like in our offense and what he can do. But he’s been phenomenal, has been available every day and gives as much as anyone on the field.”

About this coaching challenge compared to others in the past:
“It’s been really exciting. Just feeling the energy from the fans and how much they want to be relevant again in the DMV area, how passionate they are about the Commanders, that jumps out. And then, like I said, being around DQ and AP (general manager Adam Peters) trying to bring in the right types of players and hard-working, tenacious guys. It’s been really, really exciting for me. It’s definitely given me new energy being here.”

What he has learned from working with other young quarterbacks and what can help Daniels:
“I would just say there’s no one size fits all. You kind of have to figure out what makes them tick. What they like, what they don’t like and how to best build your offense around them. And it’s going to take us a while to fully figure that out. But Jayden is really good at processing information and letting you know, ‘Hey, I was comfortable with this, I wasn’t comfortable with this.’ And that’s been really good for us as we’ve been building the offense and we’ve really tried to throw everything at him and see how he can handle it and he’s handled it well. But he’s not afraid to let you know when there’s a concept he doesn’t like or isn’t comfortable with. And that’s been a really good relationship.”

What he is most looking forward to from Daniels this weekend:
“It’s really just his competitive spirit. He’s pretty laid back, a cool guy, but when he steps on the field, he tries to rip your head off and talks bad about the (defensive coordinator) and the (defensive backs) and everybody else. But it’s inherently funny. But that’s just when you watch him compete. When you’re out there in practice, you don’t really see him go out and run and stuff like that because we don’t tackle him. So, just seeing his competitive spirit come out in his first game and it’s not always going to be pretty, but just seeing him continue to fight and try to lead these guys. That’s going to be a lot of fun for me to watch.”