WASHINGTON — Jayden Daniels was being dragged down by a defender when he stuck his left arm out and put his hand on the ground. That’s when a dismal night for the Washington Commanders turned downright horrifying.
Daniels’ nonthrowing arm bent gruesomely, and the star quarterback had to leave Washington’s 38-14 loss to Seattle on Sunday night with 7:29 remaining in the fourth quarter. It’s the third — and perhaps the most significant — injury of the season for Daniels, who was in his first game back from a hamstring issue.
“It’s really tough to see him go down. You just want him to stay positive,” Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner said. “You don’t know what the result is. You just speak a lot of positivity into existence. He’s a very positive person so we’re just praying for the best.”
Commanders coach Dan Quinn said Daniels injured his elbow. That was about the extent of the postgame update. Quinn didn’t have much of an explanation for why Daniels was still in the game. Washington was trailing 38-7 at the time.
“Obviously like the hindsight, you don’t want to think that way, where an injury could take place,” Quinn said. “Obviously we’re more conservative in that spot to run and hand off and not have reads to go, but just the end result — obviously, I’m bummed.” In addition to the hamstring injury, Daniels also missed two games earlier this season with knee issues.
Although an injury to Daniels’ non-throwing arm isn’t necessarily career altering, Commanders fans could hardly be blamed for immediately fearing the worst. It was on this same field about 13 years ago — against the same opponent — that Robert Griffin III went down with a severe knee injury at the end of his sensational rookie season for Washington. He never reached those heights again.
The Commanders fell behind early Sunday and trailed 31-7 at halftime, and Daniels had to do plenty of scrambling. He ended up running for 51 yards on 10 carries, and the injury underscored the risk in doing that.
“I think that’s his nature. He wants to be aggressive and make plays,” Quinn said. “He’s got confidence in the other players. I do know that. So it’s not like, ‘I have to do more, I have to do things that are outside of playing in that way.’ We also have to have everybody. Injuries happen and you hate it.”
As a rookie last season, Daniels led Washington to the NFC championship game — its best season since 1991. Now the Commanders are 3-6 after four straight losses. If the season can be salvaged, it may have to be with Marcus Mariota at quarterback.
During those moments when Daniels was slow to get up, however, it was the long-term future that seemed like the bigger issue.
“I didn’t see what happened exactly. I just heard a pause and I kind of put my head down and prayed for him,” Commanders guard Sam Cosmi said. “You just don’t want to see that happen.”
