ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — Jayden Daniels has not seen any of the fervor around the Washington area since the Commanders delivered the franchise's first playoff win in 19 years because the stellar rookie quarterback works hard to keep stuff like that out of his head.
“I kind of stay in my own bubble right now, focus on what’s next,” Daniels said Tuesday. “But I could just tell a lot of people are excited.”
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Washington Commanders wide receiver Dyami Brown, foreground, celebrates after catching a touchdown pass against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the first half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game in Tampa, Fla., Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)
Washington Commanders place kicker Zane Gonzalez, middle, is congratulated by teammates after kicking the game winning field goal against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the second half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game in Tampa, Fla., Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)
Washington Commanders place kicker Zane Gonzalez, middle, is congratulated by teammates after kicking the game winning field goal against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the second half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game in Tampa, Fla., Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)
Washington Commanders wide receiver Dyami Brown, middle, celebrates after catching a touchdown pass against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the first half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game in Tampa, Fla., Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) passes against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the first half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game in Tampa, Fla., Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)
Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) celebrates after an NFL wild-card playoff football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Tampa, Fla., Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)
Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels speaks at a news conference after an NFL wild-card playoff football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Tampa, Fla., Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)
Washington Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner (54) is congratulated by cornerback Mike Sainristil after recovering a fumble by Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield during the second half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game in Tampa, Fla., Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
The excitement was palpable in the stadium when he and his teammates beat Tampa Bay to advance to the divisional round, and it remains among the fan base. Inside the practice facility, it's back to business with a short turnaround and a big challenge ahead playing at NFC-leading Detroit on Saturday night.
“Any time you get to play football in January, it’s a blessing, and we’re aware of that and we’re focused on what we’ve got to do to get on to the next week,” veteran defensive tackle Jonathan Allen said. “We’re excited, but we’re not satisfied.”
The Commanders were not expected to get past the Buccaneers, and they are even bigger underdogs against the 15-2 Lions, who are rested and refreshed after their bye week.
Detroit opened as an 8 1/2-point favorite on BetMGM Sportsbook on Sunday night, and the betting line was up to 9 1/2 by Tuesday afternoon.
“We like being the underdogs,” starting right guard Sam Cosmi said. “They just keep on betting against us, and we keep proving them wrong."
Cosmi, a 2021 draft pick who made his NFL playoff debut last weekend, said turning the page was about appreciating that it was a “heck of a win, heck of a moment" before realizing, “We've got bigger things to go and do.”
The belief to go on a run starts with Daniels, the favorite to be the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year who has helped Washington win five games in a row — all on the final play from scrimmage.
One was backup Marcus Mariota beating Dallas in the season finale, another was the defense stopping New Orleans on a 2-point conversion and the most recent was Zane Gonzalez banking in the winning field goal off the right upright after Daniels engineered a late drive to set it up.
Daniels also made touchdown throws to beat Philadelphia and Atlanta late in the regular season. Receiver Olamide Zaccheaus believes the 24-year-old QB was born with this ability, and everybody on offense is glad Daniels has what it takes to be unfazed under pressure.
“For him to be so young and be able to facilitate and put guys in place and just keep it all under control, that says a lot for him as a young player,” running back Brian Robinson Jr. said.
Daniels did not come out of the Bucs game totally unscathed. He was still sporting a bandage on his face after getting cut on his right cheek more than 40 hours after but totally brushed it off.
“I’m good," Daniels said. "It was just nothing but a little cut. Just a little cut.”
Coach Dan Quinn similarly downplayed the concern about his staff and players' preparation being cut down by the short week, saying the Commanders are comfortable "however we got to get down.”
They should be mostly healthy, too. Defensive tackle Daron Payne, who left Sunday with a finger injury, said he's good to go, and cornerback Marshon Lattimore should be another week stronger after aggravating his sore hamstring late in the regular season. Mentally, they're doing fine, too.
“Guys are just excited, and guys come back in here ready to work with that same energy,” Robinson said. “We know what we can do, we know what we can accomplish, we know how fun it is and we just want to keep having fun with it.”
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Washington Commanders wide receiver Dyami Brown, foreground, celebrates after catching a touchdown pass against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the first half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game in Tampa, Fla., Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)
Washington Commanders place kicker Zane Gonzalez, middle, is congratulated by teammates after kicking the game winning field goal against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the second half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game in Tampa, Fla., Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)
Washington Commanders place kicker Zane Gonzalez, middle, is congratulated by teammates after kicking the game winning field goal against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the second half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game in Tampa, Fla., Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)
Washington Commanders wide receiver Dyami Brown, middle, celebrates after catching a touchdown pass against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the first half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game in Tampa, Fla., Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) passes against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the first half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game in Tampa, Fla., Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)
Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) celebrates after an NFL wild-card playoff football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Tampa, Fla., Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)
Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels speaks at a news conference after an NFL wild-card playoff football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Tampa, Fla., Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)
Washington Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner (54) is congratulated by cornerback Mike Sainristil after recovering a fumble by Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield during the second half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game in Tampa, Fla., Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
NEW YORK (AP) — A full-scale replica of the secret annex where Anne Frank penned her famous diary opened in New York City on Monday as the world marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The exhibit at the Center for Jewish History in Manhattan represents the first time the annex has been completely recreated outside of Amsterdam, where the space is a central part of the Anne Frank House museum.
But while the original annex has been intentionally left empty, the New York reconstruction shows the five rooms as they would have looked while the Frank family and others lived in hiding.
The spaces are filled with furniture and possessions, including a reconstruction of the writing desk where Frank wrote her diary.
Ronald Leopold, director of the Anne Frank House, said furnishing the recreated space was important to tell Anne's story in a new and immersive way, especially for those who may not get to visit the Amsterdam museum, which also houses Frank’s original diary.
“We very much hope that we will be able to to touch people’s hearts here, because education is the focus of this exhibition,” Leopold said at Monday's opening. “And education starts with empathy — empathy with what happened here, what happened in Amsterdam during those years, what was done to Anne Frank.”
The Frank family hid with other Jews for two years in the attic of patriarch Otto Frank’s office in Amsterdam as the Nazi German army occupied the Netherlands during World War II.
They were eventually discovered in 1944 and sent to concentration camps, including Auschwitz-Birkenau, which was liberated by Soviet troops 80 years ago Monday. Anne and her older sister Margot died of typhus at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945.
Their father, Otto, was the only person from the annex to survive the Holocaust. After the war, he published his 15-year-old daughter’s diary, which is considered one of the most important works of the 20th century. Frank died in 1980 at the age of 91.
Hannah-Milena Elias, the granddaughter of Anne Frank’s cousin, Buddy Elias, said she found it emotional walking through the exhibit rooms.
“It is quite overwhelming and quite touching to see to see what a tiny space the families had to stay in and live for more than two years,” said the 29-year-old, who lives in Switzerland.
Her sister, Leyv-Anouk Elias, hoped the exhibit would encourage visitors to reflect on what it means to face discrimination or be a minority today.
“History, unfortunately, is repeating itself in different ways,” the 27-year-old Berlin resident said. “We have to be very, very careful how to act and to do stuff against it, to not ever make this happen again.”
The New York exhibit, which runs through April 30, spans more than 7,500 square feet (696 square meters) and includes more than 100 photos and other artifacts — many never before displayed publicly, according to officials.
Among the items are Anne Frank’s first photo album and her handwritten poetry, as well as a replica of her famous diary. There’s also nearly 80 translated editions of her diary and even the Oscar won by Shelley Winters for the 1959 film “The Diary of Anne Frank.”
The installation is presented chronologically, tracing the Frank family's life in Germany through the rise of the Nazi regime, the family’s flight to Amsterdam and their life in hiding and eventual capture.
Henry Byrne, a junior at Xavier, a Catholic high school in Manhattan, said learning about the family's saga helped him grasp the enormity of the Holocaust.
“It taught me a lot about how just because you see one story, walk into these rooms and all the beds and the tables, that’s just one person’s life," the 16-year-old said. "And there were millions that were lost.”
The "Anne Frank the Exhibition" during its opening on International Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Center for Jewish History, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
The "Anne Frank the Exhibition" during its opening on International Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Center for Jewish History, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
A person looks at the "Anne Frank the Exhibition" during its opening on International Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Center for Jewish History, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
The "Anne Frank the Exhibition" during its opening on International Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Center for Jewish History, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
The "Anne Frank the Exhibition" during its opening on International Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Center for Jewish History, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
The "Anne Frank the Exhibition" during its opening on International Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Center for Jewish History, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)