Commanders head coach Dan Quinn said on Wednesday that he didn’t have an update on quarterback Jayden Daniels’s outlook for the coming weeks because he was still meeting with specialists about his dislocated left elbow, but General Manager Adam Peters had more to offer on Friday morning.
Daniels will not play against the Seahawks this Sunday, but Peters indicated that the Commanders expect to have the quarterback in the lineup in the near future.
“He met with doctors all over the country,” Peters said, via 106.7 The Fan. “We got a lot of good opinions. As of right now, surgery is not on the table and we haven’t discussed IR.”
An injured reserve stint would keep Daniels out for at least four games, so taking that out of the conversation suggests Daniels will be ready to return to action relatively soon. For now, though, the Commanders will have to hope Marcus Mariota will be able to lead them to their first victory of the season.
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Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner says Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels could play through the left elbow injury he suffered on Sunday.
Warner, who now appears on ESPN, described suffering the same injury in 2007 and not missing a game.
“I suffered the exact same injury back in ’07, and I played the next week,” Warner said. “I braced it up, obviously a couple shots along the way, I had to hand the football off with my right hand in both directions, but this to me is something, because it’s the left arm, if he wants to play through that, and get back out there and help his team, I believe he can. It’s not going to be one of those things that affects the throwing part of things. Does it affect his movement, does it affect his running or some of the things they want to do by design? Maybe, but I do believe this is something he can come back from. Because it’s the left arm, I don’t think it’s something we worry about long term and go, ‘Should we extend this guy, because he’s had this type of injury twice?’ I believe it’s something he can play through.”
Warner said that as a player, his mentality would be to do everything he can to help his team win.
“I can brace it up and go,” Warner said. “I don’t care about all that stuff. Let me go out there and play, I want to be out there with my guys as opposed to thinking about this a year or two down the road.”
Warner suffered his left elbow injury in Week 6 of 2007 when he was sacked by Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers. Warner missed the rest of that game, and when the injury was initially diagnosed he was expected to miss more time, but instead he played in Week 7, wearing a large brace on his left elbow, and started every game for the Cardinals the rest of the season. Warner played well down the stretch and was named the starter in 2008 after starting 2007 as the backup to Matt Leinart, and in 2008 Warner led the Cardinals to the Super Bowl.
What’s unknown is whether Warner is correct to call his injury “the exact same injury” that Daniels had. Daniels’ left elbow injury may be more severe, and it may not be feasible for him to play, even with a heavy brace on his left elbow. Warner displayed incredible toughness, but that doesn’t necessarily make it the right decision for Daniels.
Commanders franchise quarterback Jayden Daniels was injured on the final play of the first half. As team medical personnel worked on his dislocated left elbow, Daniels’ teammates were seen on the Fox broadcast walking by him toward the locker room.
Commanders players pushed back against the social media narrative that they abandoned their quarterback.
“It’s bullshit what people are saying,” Washington left tackle Brandon Coleman said, via John Keim of ESPN. “Jay’s our guy, and he’s been our guy. There’s no malice behind it.”
Many players stayed on the sideline watching Daniels being attended to, per Keim, and many returned to his side after trainers popped Daniels’ elbow back in place.
Coach Dan Quinn said what actually happened was the “opposite” of the narrative that grew from Fox’s short clip.
“When the half is over, the referees are saying, ‘Man, I can’t delay the half. They can’t stay on the field,’ The players were like, ‘No, we want to stay,’” Quinn said. “So it’s just the opposite of that. They were gutted. They love this guy. So halftime was hard and emotional in that space.”
Coleman and lineman Josh Conerly Jr. were the last players to leave for the locker room, along with Quinn and backup quarterbacks Marcus Mariota and Athan Kaliakmanis.
“All that stuff is ridiculous,” tight end Ben Sinnott said. “As far as the love and brotherhood we have for Jayden, it’s really strong. We’ve seen how hard he worked to get to where he’s been.
“It was a weird situation. People were trying to figure out what’s going on, and they wanted to give the trainers space to do it. You don’t want to crowd the guy. Obviously, guys are taking a step back and giving him space, praying, and we all came back.
“All that stuff is nonsense.”
The plan heading into the week was for Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold to practice on Wednesday and nothing changed over the last couple of days.
Head coach Mike Macdonald confirmed that Darnold will be on the field as he works his way back from the glute injury he suffered in the season opener. Macdonald said that Darnold will not handle a full workload, but the team hopes he’ll be able to do more as the week progresses.
“He’s not going to take every rep today and then we’ll kind of ramp it up as the week goes,” Macdonald said at a press conference.
Macdonald said that the decision about starting Darnold against the Commanders will come down to “does he feel good enough to play” and that the team would like to make a decision before heading into the weekend about whether it will be Darnold or Drew Lock piloting the offense.
While Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels is out for at least this week’s game against the Seahawks, there is not yet a clear timeline for his recovery.
Head coach Dan Quinn told reporters in his press conference that there isn’t an update yet on Daniels, as he is seeing another specialist for his dislocated left elbow on Wednesday.
Daniels re-injured his elbow on the last play of the second quarter in Sunday’s eventual loss to the Cowboys.
Marcus Mariota is set to start for Washington against Seattle this week. But beyond that, Quinn wants to have something more definitive before commenting on the club potentially making a move to bring in another QB.
“I’m not going to assume on the timeline,” Quinn said. “Once I know, I’ll share it with you to go. But I think just for me to say, this many weeks or not, I’d rather wait on that and let’s get all the info. But that said, I’d also say, yeah, we have a lot of confidence in what we do and what we’ve been doing. ... But as far as a timeline, or what, or who else to add, we’ll wait on that.”
Additionally, Quinn has ruled out safety Nick Cross for Week 3 after suffering an internal injury against the Cowboys.
Right guard Sam Cosmi is in the concussion protocol. Linebacker Frankie Luvu, tight end Chig Okonkwo, and defensive tackle are also rehabbing this week.
The Panthers will be without Jonathon Brooks for an extended period of time and they’re set to kick the tires on a veteran running back as they work to fill out their backfield in Brooks’s absence.
Austin Ekeler will try out for the club on Wednesday, per a report from Aaron Wilson that has been confirmed by multiple other outlets. Ekeler has not played since tearing his Achilles while with the Commanders last September.
Ekeler was in his second season with Washington after spending his first seven years in the league with the Chargers. He was a dual threat throughout his time with the Chargers, and peaked with 3,195 yards from scrimmage and 38 touchdowns across the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
Brooks is expected to miss more than a month after having core muscle surgery. Chuba Hubbard and AJ Dillon are the other backs on the 53-man roster for Carolina.
A whole lot of people heard Tom Brady say “oh shit” and “piss missile” on Sunday afternoon. (Hey, if smoking weed on the air is fair game, anything goes.)
Fox’s broadcast of Commanders-Cowboys in the late-afternoon window of the second Sunday of the 2026 season attracted 27.4 million viewers.
It was the most-watched NFL telecast of the season to date. And it had everything to do with the presence of the Cowboys.
Especially since the Commanders lost their starting quarterback, Jayden Daniels, at the end of the first half. And the game ultimately was a blowout, with Dallas winning the game, 37-20.
CBS will get the benefit of the Cowboys bump on Sunday. The Week 3 game against the Ravens from Brazil will be televised in the late-afternoon window on Sunday.
The Cowboys’ Week 4 game against the Texans inexplicably lands in the 1:00 p.m. ET window on Fox. The Week 5 Dallas game against the Buccaneers is set for Thursday night. In Week 6, the Cowboys face the Packers at Lambeau Field on Sunday night.
After that, the Cowboys visit the Eagles on Monday night to wrap up Week 7.
The 2023 season featured more than a few serious quarterback injuries. The 2026 season has started with four of 32 starters suffering injuries during the first two weeks of action.
In Week 1, the Seahawks lost quarterback Sam Darnold for at least one game with a glute injury. (He could be back in Week 3.) In Week 2, Bears quarterback Caleb Williams pulled a hamstring and is week-to-week. In the late-afternoon window, Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels dislocated his left elbow, again. On Monday night, Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart sustained what is believed to be an MCL sprain.
More recently, the next man up in Chicago (Tyson Bagent) has landed in the concussion protocol.
The situation highlights an ever-present risk when it comes to playing football. Quarterbacks get hit, in all sorts of ways — after weeks of practice in which they’re insulated from contact.
As Mike Tomlin said in Week 1, the inability to hit quarterbacks in practice put defenses at a disadvantage. The quarterbacks are at a disadvantage, too; they’ve gone from bubble wrap to fair game.
On Monday’s Let’s Go!, North Carolina coach Bill Belichick (who is far chattier than he is during games) suggested that limited padded practices make it harder for the blockers and, in turn, the quarterbacks.
“The offensive line has really gotten shortchanged because they’re not in pads very often,” Belichick said. “Basically 20 times a year, 10 in training camp, 10 during the regular season. And I think 20 practices is just not really enough for those guys to develop their skills. And the defensive players are ahead of them and offensive lineman gets beaten and you know who’s getting hit. And so I think one thing that would really help the situation would be some type of developmental program for offensive linemen who don’t play. Not saying guys that have played 16 games, but talking about guys that don’t play, that need that development coming into the NFL and type athletes they face and pass protection and blitz pick[up] and all that. It’s so involved and so difficult that I think that would help the quarterback’s longevity as much as anything.”
Even with a highly competent offensive line, a quarterback is always one play away from taking a big hit, and possibly from being injured. And nothing can change a team’s fortunes faster than losing their starting quarterback.
UPDATE 9:10 p.m. ET: Actually, the number is five. Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray suffered a concussion on the third drive of the Week 1 win over the Packers. Carson Wentz replaced Murray, who has been cleared for Week 3.
Word over the weekend was encouraging about quarterback Sam Darnold’s recovery from the glute injury that kept him from playing in Week 2 and head coach Mike Macdonald brought more good news on Monday.
Macdonald said that Darnold is expected to be on the field when the team returns to practice on Wednesday.
“Right now the plan is for him to be out there in some capacity, and we’ll go from there,” Macdonald said, via the team’s website. “How much? We’ll see from here to Wednesday what that number is, but right now that’s the goal.”
The answer to the question of how much work Darnold is able to do will be tied to his chances of being cleared to play against the Commanders in Week 3. Drew Lock handled things well in Sunday’s rout of the Cardinals, so the 2-0 Seahawks will not have much reason to hurry Darnold back if the best course of action is a slower buildup to game action.
Jayden Daniels’s injury was the major storyline for the Commanders in Sunday’s loss to the Cowboys, but the quarterback was not the only member of the team to suffer an injury.
Head coach Dan Quinn said at his Monday press conference, via multiple reporters, that defensive back Nick Cross remained in Dallas on Sunday night so he could be evaluated at a local hospital for an internal injury. Quinn said Cross was released from the hospital on Monday and is now on his way home.
Quinn did not provide any further details about Cross’s injury or outlook moving forward.
Cross has started both games for the Commanders this season. He had 11 tackles in those appearances.
