Washington Commanders second-year quarterback Jayden Daniels will miss the rest of the 2025 season due to injury.
The news that has been widely discussed became official on Monday afternoon with Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels shut down for the final three games of the regular season.
The news comes one day after quarterback Marcus Mariota made his seventh start and recorded his first win in 2025, along with Washington fighting for draft position.
"It was a lot. Part medical, part team. As of today, he still wasn't all the way cleared to play. Last week we didn't have all the results until the end of the week then short week next week with the Christmas game [against Dallas] so we believe this decision allows him to take advantage of the next two weeks a different way," head coach Dan Quinn confirmed on Monday.
It ends a frustrating year two for Daniels, who closed his first season as the Commanders' starting quarterback the Rookie of the Year while leading Washington to its first NFC Championship game appearance in decades. Now, with plenty of question marks surrounding the offense and the franchise beginning to shift to the future despite Sunday's win, Quinn will look to get the franchise quarterback back to full strength ahead of now a hopeful bounceback year three.
"He wants to practice and he will practice. He also wants to support Marcus [Mariota] in a way that Marcus has demonstrated and helped him. I thought that was significant. We all know the best way to grow is during the games but with that not being the best way for us, there's plenty of ways for him to learn over the next three weeks."
In seven games, Daniels threw for 1,262 yards and eight touchdowns to three interceptions while completing 60.6% of his passes. This also comes after Daniels suffered three injuries in limited time this season, first a knee sprain, then a low-grade hamstring strain then the dislocated elbow that sidelined him for the bulk of the last six weeks.
Quinn previously noted there was no structural damage after Daniels was ruled out against the New York Giants in week 15.
"The imaging was good so there was no structural setbacks. Just like most players, you talk to them on Sunday then again what Monday feels like, not quite the same of swelling or strength and those things that go into it," Quinn said last Wednesday . "Confirmed no structural [damage] at the game and then again this week."
The move also gives Mariota, who enters the final three games on a one-year contract, a chance to make his case to return as the backup in 2026.
"He's [an] impactful guy here for a lot of reasons but also it's the play on the field," Quinn said. "Having him, the full three games to go take all the reps and do the preparation - that's a big deal. So wanted to give him that opportunity as well, make sure he had the timing, the execution, the practice reps. Sometimes when you're the backup, not getting the game reps with the guys that are in during the week, that can change it so that was part of the goal."