There’s one major factor that will determine Commanders’ decision on Jayden Daniels’ health according to NFL insiders
The Commanders have a thorough decision to make on Jayden Daniels’ injury.
The Washington Commanders are finally in their Week 12 bye week after starting 3-8, but this isn’t a week off by any means.
One of their biggest decisions of the season will take a major step forward during the bye week, with quarterback Jayden Daniels being reevaluated once again to see where he is in his recovery. Head coach Dan Quinn said that the team would have an update on Daniels coming out of the bye week, and then they will have to decide if he can and should play with the postseason out of reach.
Two NFL insiders gave their thoughts on how the team could approach Daniels’ return and how there’s one factor that will dictate it all: time.
Will Jayden Daniels play again this season?
One of the biggest debates during the Commanders’ bye week is whether Daniels will be back against the Denver Broncos next week, and if he should even play again this season. We should be getting an answer sooner rather than later, and Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano from ESPN weighed in on what they’re hearing.
“From what I’ve been told, the plan in Washington is still that Daniels will return to the starting lineup once doctors clear him from his elbow injury.” – Dan Graziano, ESPN
“Washington’s situation with Daniels is more complicated from my view. Sources have maintained that while Daniels could return as quickly as three weeks from the occurrence of the injury, the team has loosely braced for an absence of five to six weeks just in case. That tells me that shutting him down remains a possibility, based on his durability this season (three separate injuries) and the team’s current standing.” – Jeremy Fowler, ESPN
These seem like two conflicting thoughts on Daniels’ return, but they both have a similar factor of time. When Daniels is cleared by doctors to play, he will very likely return to the team to finish the season, but that could also be longer than expected, like Fowler stated, with a five or six-week expectation just in case.
Should late return lead to Jayden Daniels being shut down?
If Daniels does take six weeks to return from his dislocated elbow, that would have him returning Week 16 against the Philadelphia Eagles, and playing in just three games to end the season. Would those three games be worth it for him to return? He’s likely going to be throwing to targets that won’t even be here next season, and we aren’t sure if Terry McLaurin will be playing or not. The passing game has struggled big time with the lack of weapons, so when would it start to hurt Daniels more, with him having to play hero ball and not really developing the things he needs to?
Of course, you want Daniels to play when he’s healthy, but what we’ve seen from this injured team this season has shown that the offense is flawed, and there might not be as much of a benefit to Daniels playing like people think.
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