Commanders won’t sugarcoat Daniels injury as they pave path forward
by Liam Griffin · The Washington TimesARLINGTON, Texas — In the face of another injury to star quarterback Jayden Daniels, the Commanders players were left in the same place as the fans during Sunday’s 37-20 loss to the Dallas Cowboys: crushed.
Before Washington could search for a winning formula, it had to tackle the reality of the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad situation. The organization approached the injury with empathy first, players and coaches said after the game.
“It took the air out of the room,” Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin said.
The injury was tough to watch on a surface level. On the final play of the second half — mere feet from Dallas’ goal line — Daniels’ feet became tangled with the cleats of left guard Chris Paul. The quarterback stumbled backward, extending his left arm to brace himself as he tried to stay upright.
His left elbow gave way. Daniels tossed an incompletion to end the half before falling to the ground in obvious pain.
Teammates took to their knees around him as athletic trainers tended to the ailing quarterback.
SEE ALSO: Commanders add injury to insulting loss against Cowboys
“I saw his face and realized something was wrong,” Commanders center Nick Allegretti said.
Unlike the fans watching from home, the players on the field don’t have access to the countless camera angles from the television broadcasts. And, unlike the supporters in the stands, the athletes can’t easily watch the instant replay on the video boards. Jumbotrons are meant to be seen from the stands, not the sidelines.
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Fans saw close-ups, both on TV and on social media, that depicted exactly what happened to Daniels’ elbow. They could see the joint clearly misshapen from the contact with the ground, the cap of the elbow obviously protruding at an unnatural angle.
The fellow Commanders couldn’t see that, though.
“You guys have a better vantage point than I do,” Commanders coach Dan Quinn told reporters, who reached for their binoculars in unison from the heights of Dallas’ press box.
All the Commanders knew was that their friend — the one who spent countless hours rehabbing injuries last season, the one who worked throughout the summer to prepare for his next opportunity — was hurting.
SEE ALSO: Commanders’ Daniels dislocates left elbow in playmaker’s latest setback
Context only made the situation harder to stomach. Teammates saw Daniels come down with an almost identical injury against the Seattle Seahawks midway through last season. He missed seven of Washington’s final eight games following his first elbow dislocation.
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The third-year quarterback entered the offseason motivated, eager to reestablish himself as one of the league’s elite signal-callers following a picture-perfect rookie season that landed the Commanders in the NFC Championship game.
His hopes of a perfectly healthy season ended after just six quarters.
“It obviously makes you sick,” said Commanders running back Rachaad White, who played with Daniels at Arizona State.
Men who count themselves among the greatest athletes in the world are rendered helpless in the face of injuries, especially flukey ones like Daniels’ twice-dislocated non-throwing elbow.
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“Nothing I could do to help,” said Allegretti, who mentioned that his first instinct was to summon the athletic trainers.
Marcus Mariota, Daniels’ backup and mentor, was the closest player as Daniels writhed in pain. The journeyman quarterback, the same one who once threw a touchdown pass to himself during a playoff game with the Tennessee Titans, couldn’t help.
“I was just praying. Holding his hand and saying, ‘I’m here with you, man. You’re not going through this alone,’” the 32-year-old said. “Any of that happens, you just want to know that someone’s caring for you.”
But despite the injury on the field, the Commanders’ offense needed to return to the locker room. The second half of a one-score game was rapidly approaching.
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“You don’t want to leave the field,” Allegretti said. “He’s still on it. Half-time starts and we’re trying to make adjustments, but, at the moment, the adjustments can hold off for a moment. You get back in the locker room. You talk a little bit. Try to rally around.”
Mariota addressed the room, as did Quinn, safety Jeremy Reaves and linebacker Sonny Styles.
The first, and most important, bullet of Quinn’s message was simple.
“You want to stand in that space — that’s your posture, your attitude of how you’re going to go — and acknowledge it sucks,” the coach said. “That was the first thing I did. We were hurting for him, and this sucks.”
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Quinn urged his players to finish the game strong on Daniels’ behalf. Dallas held a 17-10 advantage at the time, and Washington received the kickoff to start the second half.
But that came with a note of caution. Despite the misconception that football players are singularly focused on winning, they needed to face their feelings. Watching Daniels leave another game injured had no silver lining. It was the worst-case scenario for a squad that entered the game eager to prove that they could compete in the NFC East.
“When you suppress those emotions, I think you start to not be yourself,” Mariota said. “I was just telling these guys, ‘Go out there and be yourself.’ … Nobody needs to be Superman.”
Their efforts ultimately fell flat. The Cowboys outscored the Commanders 20-10 in the second half, despite a solid showing from Mariota.
Even after the game, Washington’s players and coaches knew little more than the worried masses back home in the District. Quinn admitted that he didn’t know the extent of Daniels’ injury when he first saw the quarterback in the locker room.
It didn’t matter. He was happy to see the 25-year-old upright.
“It was good to see him. That’s where I was first,” Quinn said. “I wanted him to know how hard we’re going to fight for him. He was playing his a— off.”
Daniels was in the middle of his best game since his rookie season before Sunday’s injury. The LSU product, despite a shaky offensive line, completed 11 of 17 passes for 96 yards and a touchdown. A pair of end zone drops kept his passer rating from soaring too high.
But Daniels also looked more elusive than he had since spraining his knee in Week 2 of the 2025 campaign. He ran for 69 yards on seven first-half carries, his highest rushing total since Week 17 of his rookie season. The scrambling marvel was on pace to set a new career high as a runner.
Now, he’s faced with another rehab period. Quinn was unable to provide a timeline for Daniels’ recovery on Sunday. The coach wouldn’t rule his quarterback out for the season.
“Optimism, I guess,” Quinn said. “We haven’t discussed anything later; it’s just kind of how I see things. I haven’t had any reason to think otherwise.”
The injuries are piling up. Left tackle Laremy Tunsil, cornerback Trey Amos, linebacker Frankie Luvu and tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo all missed Sunday’s game with a bevy of ailments. Guard Sam Cosmi, backup left tackle Brandon Coleman and defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw left the loss early with their own injuries.
But just as the halftime clock forced Allegretti and the rest of the Washington offense off the field, the NFL hourglass has flipped toward Week 3. The Commanders have a week to prepare for the defending champion Seattle Seahawks, who visit Northwest Stadium on Sunday.
“We will rally so hard around Marcus until Jayden is back. That’s what’s required, and that’s what we’ll do,” Quinn said. The sentiment conveys to other depleted positions across the roster. “I expect our posture and attitude to reflect that.”
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Liam Griffin
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