Washington Commanders will face the Dallas Cowboys on Christmas with QB uncertainty. Head coach Dan Quinn reveals updates on Mariota's hand and quad injuries, among other injuries, ahead of the holiday showdown.
Fresh off its 11th loss of the season and second against an NFC East opponent, the Washington Commanders will head into a short week once again with the second matchup of the season against the Dallas Cowboys.
While the two teams will be playing for draft position with the Eagles clinching the division knocking Dallas out of postseason play, this week’s game will mark one cool storyline. While it will be the sixth appearance for Dallas, Thursday marks the first time the Commanders will play on Christmas after entering the 2025 season one of only seven teams to have never played on the holiday.
“I think it’s honestly definitely something that we circled and we thought man, what a cool opportunity for us. And then also to have it at home, that’s a big deal,” head coach Dan Quinn said on Sunday. “So this is definitely one - division game, on Christmas - pretty cool environment. If you can get some snow mixed into there, all that would be good with us.”
The game will be streamed on Netflix for a 1 PM kickoff, the second consecutive year the streaming platform has hosted NFL games on Christmas Day.
Washington fell in Dallas, 44-22, in the first matchup back in week seven when quarterback Jayden Daniels exited the game in the second half. This time, though, there won’t be any Jayden Daniels after head coach Dan Quinn announced the second-year quarterback was shut down for the rest of 2025.
Despite battling quarterback injuries yet again heading into week 17, Quinn doubled down on Daniels remaining inactive for the final two games.
“We would not consider playing Jayden,” Quinn said during Sunday’s press conference.
That’s because who will step in as the starting quarterback remains a question mark fresh off the 29-18 loss against Philadelphia.
Quarterback Marcus Mariota drew his eighth start of the season, but exited the game on the opening possession of the second half with what the team ruled a concussion and right hand injury. Washington announced shortly after that Mariota was cleared from concussion protocol but remained questionable to return due to a right hand injury, an injury that kept him sidelined with Josh Johnson drawing extensive snaps for the first time as a Commander and first time in the NFL since 2023.
Head coach Dan Quinn said Mariota had stitches on his right hand and also has a quad injury, drawing a ‘day-to-day’ designation heading into Thursday’s contest.
“The quad and the hand happened on the same play. It was a cleat that got to his hand on the top. But I don’t know yet,” Quinn said Sunday. “[It’s] swollen so I’d say we’re going to call it day-to-day right now of where it’s at, both with the hand and with the quad. Let’s see what tomorrow is and the following day and I’d say by two days from now we’ll have a very good estimate of where he’s at.”
Quinn added that both Josh Johnson and Sam Hartman remain under consideration to step in as the starter if Mariota is unavailable, but he also didn’t rule out looking outside of the organization to fill the role if needed, alluding to Phillip Rivers stepping in after a five-year absence to make his NFL return.
“Would we consider somebody else coming in if he’s not able to, yeah, all those are on the table. That’s something that Adam [Peters] and I are discussing tonight and we did today,” he said.
When asked later how realistic a free agent signing could be, Quinn reiterated the focus on Mariota’s health.
“I think it’d be difficult at any spot but I think we’re looking let’s see where Marcus [Mariota] is. We’re only looking the next two games so that was really kind of our thought behind the discussion of where we are. I would say difficult, but not impossible. But definitely difficult. I think we just saw somebody do it last week or two weeks ago pretty quickly.”
Meanwhile, offensive lineman Sam Cosmi remains in concussion protocol while defensive lineman Jer’Zhan Newton has cleared concussion protocol. Quinn added that “it would be tough for wide receiver Jaylin Lane to be available on Thursday, while offensive lineman Brandon Coleman is still battling a shin injury that sent him to the sidelines in the closing minutes of the loss.
“We’re hopeful this can turn quickly and he’ll be available for the game.”