LANDOVER, Md. — The Washington Commanders don’t yet know if quarterback Jayden Daniels will miss any time with a rib injury that caused him to leave Sunday’s win over Carolina in the first quarter, but they did find out they could still be effective on offense without him.
Daniels suffered a rib injury on Washington’s first possession and was eventually ruled out. Marcus Mariota replaced him and completed 18 of 23 passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns while leading six scoring drives in the 40-7 rout.
Coach Dan Quinn said he had “no update” on Daniels after the game, saying more tests would be conducted Monday to determine the extent of his injury.
“I’ll give you some updates just as soon as I find out tomorrow, but I do not have any tonight,” Quinn said.
Daniels’ mom, Regina, posted to social media that “he’s fine,” and multiple sources told ESPN after the initial X-rays that Daniels was OK.
He stood on the sideline in street clothes and could be seen smiling and talking to teammates. He hugged Carolina quarterback Bryce Young after the game as well as Washington owner Josh Harris, among others.
“It’s going to take some time, whatever it is,” Mariota said of Daniels’ injury. “We have no idea, but he was in good spirits. … We’ll take it day to day.”
Washington (5-2) hosts Chicago (4-2) on Sunday in what would be a matchup of the top two quarterbacks picked in the draft, with the Bears having selected Caleb Williams one spot ahead of Daniels.
“You know he’s a tough player,” receiver Terry McLaurin said. “He’ll do whatever it takes to get ready for next week.”
Coaches and teammates said they weren’t sure when Daniels suffered the injury. It appeared to happen at the end of a 46-yard run on the Commanders’ first play from scrimmage. At the end of the run, Daniels turned slightly to his left to try to stiff-arm Panthers safety Lonnie Johnson Jr. Linebacker Marquis Haynes helped tackle Daniels from behind as well.
After the next play, a handoff to Austin Ekeler, Daniels appeared to grab at his left side as he carried out a fake run to the left.
Daniels carried the ball two more times on the series, one time awkwardly going to the ground rather than sliding to give himself up. After the possession, trainers examined Daniels on the sideline before he went to the medical tent.
He threw a warmup pass on the field before the Commanders’ next offensive series and grimaced in pain. He left the field and slammed his helmet to the ground on the sideline as Mariota took over.
Daniels, who has been the main sparkplug on an offense that entered the game ranked second in scoring, soon walked into the locker room for the remainder of the half.
In the first six games, Daniels completed 75.3% of his passes for 1,404 yards, 6 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He also rushed for 322 yards and four more scores.
“He’s the leader of our team essentially, and he’s a phenomenal player, going to be great player for a long time,” tight end Zach Ertz said. “… So, first thought is obviously just worried about him, and then from there, just got to get back out there and play. We got a lot of confidence in Marcus.”
Mariota, who spent the first four games of the season on injured reserve because of a strained pectoral muscle, executed the offense at a similar pace. He misfired on his first three passes but later led a 92-yard touchdown drive just before halftime. Mariota threw only two more incompletions the rest of the game.
“I wasn’t surprised that he performed well,” Quinn said of Mariota. “I see the extra things that he does. It was good to see that confidence back in him and to see the joy on the sideline for him because everybody feels his support — not just Jayden, everybody does. He’s got that kind of impact about him. He’s been through it. He’s a really excellent teammate and the guys feel that.”
