Washington Commanders' offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury is all for VR training as it accelerates the development of the team's star quarterback, Jayden Daniels. New York Times reports.
A former Texas Tech quarterback himself, Kingsbury's intense realism was evident from the first moment.
“When I first put [the VR headset] “Then I leaned against the wall,” Kingsbury said. NYT. “I felt like [pass] The rush was approaching.
Daniels is a big driver behind the adoption of Commanders, the app originally developed by German company Cognilize for top-level football players. Daniels credits his rapid progress to VR training, saying he used the app during the 2023 season as a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback at LSU and has now led the Commanders to a 5-2 record.
Essentially, Cognilize's app gives players like Daniels the ability to perform mental reps at significantly lower physical strain than training on the field, allowing him to run at top speed throughout games to better hone his ability to read defenses.
Daniels explained how this works on the 'All Facts Without Brakes' program with Keyshawn Johnson in May:
“They load up on the stadium you play in and it seems like Definitely like a stadium. And it moves faster than a human can move. I'll go there and say they'll probably give me 7 seconds to learn the game. “I can see the news before the match, before the match is over, and I know where to go in football.” That and Kingsbury's voice leads the VR sessions, giving Daniels a real feel for virtual gaming.
“It's as real as the gaming reps,” Kingsbury explained, adding that the VR app has become a key component of their weekly process. First, Daniels practices with the app every morning and compares it to a “flight simulator for QBs.”
“It's a unique technology and it's definitely for quarterbacks,” Kingsbury said. “I think it's more effective than just watching the movie. “They go through their reading, they go through their progression, and they see it.”
Despite suffering a rib injury during the blowout 40-7 win over the Carolina Panthers, raising concerns about Daniels' availability for the rest of the season, the news actually looks good. Daniels could miss the game against the Chicago Bears; This will give him more time to do mental reps in VR at his own pace and recover from injury without stopping his training regimen completely.