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.
