Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels missed his second straight game on Sunday in London, and now the man filling in for him is hurt too. Marcus Mariota left the game against the Indianapolis Colts in the first quarter with a right knee injury and was ruled out.
That left seventh-round rookie Athan Kaliakmanis to make his NFL debut. Commanders head coach Dan Quinn told the NFL Network broadcast that Mariota reinjured the MCL in that knee, per Pro Football Talk, and that the team is “gutted” for him.
All of that puts even more attention on the elbow that started it.
Daniels dislocated his left elbow on the final play of the first half of the Week 2 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sept. 20. It is the same non-throwing elbow he dislocated last season.
It looked like the kind of injury that could wipe out a big chunk of his season. Instead, after Daniels met with multiple specialists, the Commanders took surgery and injured reserve off the table and called him week to week.
Then NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on Sept. 27 that Daniels was expected back within three weeks. That was about as encouraging as it gets for an injury that looked that bad.
Now, we wait to see if Week 5 is the week.
Will Jayden Daniels play in Week 5?
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Nothing is official, but we would lean yes.
Sunday marks two weeks since the injury. Depending on where you start the clock on Rapoport’s timeline, the three-week window closes either at next Sunday’s game against the New York Giants or just before the Week 6 trip to San Francisco.
The Athletic’s Jonathan Jones went a step further on Saturday. He reported that Daniels is targeting the Giants game and that team sources see a full week of practice as “a positive indication Daniels will be ready.”
Daniels gave himself a head start on that. He was back on the practice field in London as a limited participant on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, wearing a brace that keeps him from fully extending the arm.
Quinn ruled him out on Friday but liked what he saw. “That’s a huge positive step for us and for him,” Quinn said.
The need is a lot more urgent now. As of this writing, we don’t know how long Mariota will be out, but if it’s any length of time, the choice against the Giants is Daniels or Kaliakmanis. It’s also a division game for a team that started 0-2 in the NFC East.
Why Daniels isn’t a lock yet
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That said, we aren’t ready to call it a done deal.
Three limited practices are a start, but the Commanders want to see a full week before they sign off. Quinn made the team’s stance clear on Wednesday in London.
“We won’t put him out there before he’s ready,” Quinn said on Wednesday.
There is also last year to consider. Daniels dislocated the same elbow in Week 9, returned in Week 14 against the Minnesota Vikings and aggravated the injury in that game, which ended his season.
For his part, Daniels doesn’t sound worried. He told reporters on Thursday that the brace is there to protect the elbow on a fall like the one in Dallas, and that he would have had surgery if he had any concern about it.
Quinn will speak after Sunday’s game, which is the next chance for an update on both quarterbacks. After that, the Commanders will put out their first Week 5 injury report on Wednesday, and that practice designation will tell us plenty.
Commanders’ upcoming schedule
We already mentioned the Giants are up next. Here’s a look at the games after that:
- Week 5 vs. New York Giants
- Week 6 at San Francisco 49ers
- Week 7: Bye
- Week 8 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
- Week 9 vs. Los Angeles Rams
Based on the reported timeline, Daniels should be back no later than the Monday night game against the 49ers, and the bye right after gives the elbow extra time to settle. Just don’t lock that in yet, because he has already aggravated this same injury once.
Washington hosts New York at 1 p.m. ET next Sunday on Fox.
