‘He has been the real standard’ – Dan Quinn has all the confidence in Marcus Mariota if his number is called for a needed win
The Commanders should feel good about Marcus Mariota starting if he needs to.
The Washington Commanders still don’t know who will be starting at quarterback this Sunday, with Jayden Daniels dealing with a knee sprain, but they are prepared for anything.
The last thing the Commanders can do is lose back-to-back games, especially against the Las Vegas Raiders, who are a team you’re expected to beat. If Daniels misses the game on Sunday, the Commanders know that veteran backup quarterback Marcus Mariota can come in and pick up with the offense with no problem.
The value of Mariota
Situations like this are why teams know having a backup quarterback is so important. Daniels missed practice on Wednesday, and his status is still up in the air for Sunday, but Quinn knows Mariota is the exact type of player you want to have when his name is called.
“Yeah, if called upon, we would certainly expect Marcus to deliver in the fashion that he does,” Quinn said. “He has been like a real standard as a Commander, player, and teammate in elite ways. So, each player that we would feature, they’d be featured in not exactly the same way, although mobility for him and Jayden, kind of coming up in similar styles, but not exactly the same also. So, for all the guys, we have ways that we’d feature them and how we would play if called upon, and that’s what we’ll do. But yeah, we have like the utmost confidence in him.”
They trust Mariota, and they should after seeing how he played last season when he had to step up. Mariota appeared in three games last year and produced at a high level, and more importantly, took care of the ball. He finished 34 for 44 with 364 passing yards and four touchdowns with no turnovers. His mobility was on display as well, as he added 92 yards and another touchdown on the ground.
Mariota led the team down the field and threw a dart to wide receiver Terry McLaurin to beat the Dallas Cowboys in a must-win to keep the team’s playoff hopes alive.
Mariota is ready
You don’t become a valuable backup unless you prepare like a starter every week. Mariota said that he’s treating this week like he always does.
“For me, I’ve always tried to approach it the same,” Mariota said. “So, I always try to approach it like I’m going to play that way. If the scenario happens or I’m given the opportunity to play, nothing changes for me on a week-to-week basis. So, my routine stays the same, and I think it’s just kind of creates that normal procedure for me, and it allows me just to go out there and play and not have to worry about, ‘okay, I gotta do this extra, I gotta do that.’ I just kind of stick to my process and allow that process to work.”
The Commanders know that Mariota can come in and win for the team, as he showed last year, and that helps decide to sit Daniels more easily. There’s no reason to push Daniels with his injury, and it’s still early in the season. Bringing back Mariota this offseason was a major move by the team, and they may need to call on him earlier than expected.
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