The Washington Commanders suffered a major loss when quarterback Jayden Daniels went down with a knee injury after the team’s 27-18 loss to the Green Bay Packers last Thursday.
Daniels is now in the process of making a full and final recovery, as his availability to place the team’s Week 3 matchup remains unclear.
Jayden Daniels’s injury
Daniels faced an injury during the Packers game as he attempted to get away from pass-rusher Micah Parsons and got hit from “the opposite direction”, as reported by ESPN. Despite still managing to wrap up the game, an MRI confirmed the injury to his knee and was publicly announced during Monday’s press conference.
“More about Commanders QB Jayden Daniels’ knee sprain and his status for Sunday, via @john_keim” NFL insider Adam Schefter posted on his official social media handle.
Return and replacement
Given the team’s policy of allowing members to fully recover before returning to the field in order to reduce chances of re-injury, it’s likely that Daniels would sit out the Week 3 matchup. This, however, would depend on his ability to make proper movements and effectively change direction.
“We’ve got a good plan of how to return to play for him,” head coach Dan Quinn said, as reported by the official Commanders website. “We know how important he is. That’s why I say it’s truly day-by-day to make sure that he can absolutely be himself. We’ll just take it as it goes through the week. But we’d have to see all of the steps along this week to hit those marks — the speed, the stopping, the change of direction — all of it.”
If Daniels were to be ruled out of the game, backup Marcus Mariota would likely step into the role. In two appearances, Mariota completed 77.3% of his passes for 364 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. Tight end John Bates, wide receiver Noah Brown and cornerback Jonathan Jones are currently being monitored for this week after suffering soft injuries. Running back Austin Ekeler and defensive end Deatrich Wise Jr. were ruled out for the rest of the season following the Packers game.
The Commanders are scheduled to face the Las Vegas Raiders in their next season outing on Sunday (September 21). A better picture of Daniels’s chances of playing is likely to be provided following Wednesday’s practice.