Jayden Daniels had just four plays on the field and only one of action during the Washington Commanders' preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals. It was enough.

With the ball at the Bengals' 14-yard line, Daniels dropped back for what was his first -- and likely only -- pass attempt of the preseason. But he saw an open spot in the Bengals' pass rush and took that route instead all the way to the goal line. He bounced off Bengals' defenders into the end zone, drawing a roar from the crowd.

When asked by the sideline reporter why he didn't go down, Daniels simply said, "I wanted to score."

"That is part of his game, and that is part of what makes him a special player," Quinn said.

Daniels left the field with the score tied 7-7 and promptly went into the locker room to change so he could watch his teammates. The rest of the evening didn't go as well for the Commanders, as they dropped their second preseason matchup in a 31-17 loss, but what fans saw early in the matchup was enough to remind them that football was back, and the Commanders' offense is just as potent in Daniels' second season.

"It was fun to get back out there and play football," Daniels said.

It was the first time that most of the Commanders' starters were on the field, and as a result, things were better executed compared to the 48-18 loss to the Patriots. The first offensive play went to Deebo Samuel, who turned upfield on a jet sweep for a 19-yard gain. That set the tone for Washington's ground game, as they rushed for 106 yards on their first six carries and 185 yards overall.

Most of the Commanders' success on the ground came from the duo of Chris Rodriguez Jr., who was named the starter before kickoff and had 62 yards on six carries, and Jacory Croskey-Merritt, who scored his first-career touchdown on a 27-yard run down the right sideline. Croskey-Merritt, who had earned praise from the coaching staff prior to the game, looked as advertised with vision, burst and speed. He played well into the second half before finishing his night with 46 yards on 11 carries.

"I thought early what I liked was decisiveness," Quinn said. "You certainly saw some of the big plays. We're still learning [about] Bill in some ways. Not every run for every back is quite the same."

The defense, which had previously allowed the Patriots to score 41 points, also looked more efficient with the starters on the field. Running lanes were narrower for the Bengals' staple of running backs, who finished the game with 89 yards on 27 carries, and the front put consistent pressure on Joe Burrow, bringing him down for a 17-yard loss.

Still, mistakes, as well as the sloppiness head coach Dan Quinn described after the team's loss to the Patriots, popped up throughout the evening.

The Bengals got on the board first with a one-yard run by Chase Brown, but the Commanders helped them get there by committing a neutral zone infraction on fourth-and-short and a defensive pass interference call. The Commanders went from nearly getting Burrow off the field to being down 7-0 thanks to 30 penalty yards.

The Commanders, however, only needed seven combined plays to tie and take the lead while working against the Bengals' struggling defense. Following Daniels' touchdowns and a three-and-out from the Bengals, rookie Jaylin Lane, who finished the night with 42 yards, caught a 12-yard pass that set up Croskey-Merritt's 27-yard touchdown run to make the score 14-7.

That was the point where the Commanders had seen enough from their starters. The Bengals, however, wanted to see more and kept Burrow on the field. He led his offense on a 12-play drive and completed a four-yard pass to Charlie Jones to tie the score again. Later, now with Jake Browning at quarterback, the Bengals retook the lead off an acrobatic 13-yard completion to Mitchell Tinsley.

The Commanders made a quarterback switch as well, putting Sam Hartman in for Josh Johnson. With 34 seconds left in the first half, Hartman's pass to KJ Osborn was picked off and returned to the Commanders' 21-yard line. One play later, Tinsley was back in the end zone with another impressive catch, keeping both feet in bounds for a 21-yard touchdown to make things 28-14 at halftime.

The second half had much less to offer in the way of points and offensive momentum. Neither team could do much to move the ball with five combined punts and six points. Quinn liked the energy and intensity more in the first two quarters, but he admitted that it was an improvement from the Commanders' first preseason game.

There's still a long way to go, though.

"We have much to clean up to get to the standard we want to play at," Quinn said.