Quarterback Marcus Mariota was one of several players to exit Saturday's loss against the Philadelphia Eagles with an injury
Injuries proved to be a theme in the Washington Commanders’ loss against the Philadelphia Eagles on Saturday night with multiple players exiting the game in the second half.
All injuries suffered in the final two minutes of the 29-18 loss, Commanders head coach Dan Quinn said that offensive guard Sam Cosmi and defensive tackle Jer’Zhan ‘Johnny’ Newton were both “evaluated for a concussion” while second-year offensive guard Branden Coleman was evaluated for a shin injury.
“Haven't visited with medical staff or with any of the players on that,” Quinn added during his postgame press conference.
Of course, the most notable injury of them all was the absence of quarterback Marcus Mariota, who exited the game in the opening minutes of the second quarter with both a concussion and right hand injury. The team announced shortly after that Mariota was cleared from concussion protocol, but was questionable to return with a hand injury, vaulting quarterback Josh Johnson into the game for his first true reps of the season.
It didn’t start poorly for Johnson after connecting with wide receiver Deebo Samuel for a key third down game, but minutes later, the veteran threw right to the defense after an interception by Eagles defensive back Cooper DeJean set up Philadelphia with favorable field position before running back Saquon Barkley punched in a 12-yard touchdown.
Johnson finished the second half 5-of-9 for 42 yards along with his interception.
“It's challenging, for sure,” head coach Dan Quinn said of the injuries at quarterback. “And for Josh, obviously, like not getting a lot of the reps into that space. So he’ll get more as it goes. We'll have, like I said, a better sense for where it is for Marcus but it's a tough spot for anybody to go into. That was no different, really, with Marcus, when he had to go in. So it's part of the gig but it's definitely tough just for looks because oftentimes you’re game planning or designing one thing, but then you have to go in and do that job. So I thought the play you'd like to have back would be the interception, and we'll get a sense for what this week looks like.”
Head coach Dan Quinn added "that's not something that we've discussed" when asked if some players will not play amid a lost season and two regular season games remaining in 2025, and while draft position will become a growing topic with the offseason looming and the Commanders potentially in line for a top-five pick, maybe the biggest question was the decision to punt twice in the fourth quarter.
In consecutive drives that ended in three-and-outs and it still a two-possession game, Washington opted to send the punt team out facing a 4th-and-4 at their own 40 with nine minutes left. The next series, Washington punted at their own 44 despite a 4th-and-6 and less than seven minutes left.
While Washington's defense stood tall after the first punt to force the Eagles into a three-and-out, the ensuing drive delivered the final blow after Saquon Barkley broke loose for a 48-yard run two plays before Tank Bigsby punched in a 22-yard touchdown.
“On the early one, I felt there's still plenty of time with all timeouts. Could we go get a stop? I'd like the way we've been playing, and so you think you can go replicate that," Quinn said when asked about the decision postgame. "We didn't with the long run. So I'd say on the first one, I thought was probably the right call. On the second one, you probably roll the dice and see where you can go. Looking back on it now, at the time, I thought, get another punt, get another stop, get back into the game. I just didn't feel like we had decided that then that 4th-and-five was not easy against this crew, especially with a new QB in the game. But yeah, that's fair criticism by you.”