Commanders head coach Dan Quinn classified quarterback Jayden Daniels as “week-to-week” in his Monday news conference after this year’s No. 2 overall pick suffered a rib injury during yesterday’s victory over the Panthers.
“We’ll take him through all the steps at practice, asses how he’s doing, and keep working through that,” Quinn said. “We’re hopeful he can play. But we’ll also make sure to take every precautionary step and do it smartly for the player and the man.
“It’s not going to be something that’s going to knock him out long-term. So, we’re going to list it as week-to-week. And hopefully, he’ll play this week and we’ll take it all the way through.”
Quinn noted Daniels suffered the injury on Washington’s first play, which he took for a 46-yard run.
While he was able to finish that possession, Washington felt it best to hold him out for the rest of the contest.
Given that it’s a core injury, Quinn noted that Daniels will have to be able to get through all of his movements to be able to play the way he’s accustomed to playing.
“He’s such a unique player that I want to make sure he can be him, fully, in his own way — the movements, throwing, all the stuff that would go with that, as you can imagine,” Quinn said. “So, I know he’ll do everything he can. But I’ll trust my eyes. And, certainly, know him well. So, like I said, we’ll take it every step of the way.”
Quinn added that he realizes he might have to hold Daniels back a bit.
“He is, at his core, a true competitor. And we wouldn’t expect anything different from that,” Quinn said. “But we’ll really trust our eyes, the medical staff, and like I said, we’re going to make sure we assess this every single day and make sure when he’s able to be him, fully, in that space, then we’ll let it rip. But we’ll just take it the whole week — we’ve got practice to assess and movements and going through it. Each day, we’ll have a better update.”
Daniels has completed a league-high 75.6 percent of his passes for 1,410 yards with six touchdowns and two interceptions this season. He’s also rushed for 372 yards with four TDs.
The Commanders will host the Bears on Sunday, issuing their first injury report of the week on Wednesday. If Daniels is unable to play, Marcus Mariota will start at quarterback.
