Head coach Dan Quinn has officially announced that second-year quarterback Jayden Daniels has been cleared for contact and is set to return Sunday vs. Minnesota Vikings, his first appearance since the week nine loss vs. Seattle.
The good news is officially in for the Washington Commanders ahead of Week 14.
Quarterback Jayden Daniels has been cleared and will return as the starting quarterback.
“Thought Jayden threw a great week of practice. He was full Thursday, full [Friday], he’s been cleared to play and he will start on Sunday [vs. Minnesota Vikings],” Quinn said during his press conference on Friday.
This marks Daniels’ first appearance since the week 9 ‘Monday Night Football’ loss vs. Seattle when he suffered a dislocated elbow.
“He really threw a great week. Like other players, when you’re injured, there’s a lot of work that has to go back to it,” Quinn added. “I thought Jayden and the medical team like put in many hours behind the scenes to get ready, from treatment to rehab to specific brace – all of it. That’s what it takes. Finding your space to get back. Just gratitude for everybody pulling the same space, everyone here is aligned in how we want to get things done.”
Daniels might not be the only one returning after Quinn provided optimism earlier in the week around wide receiver Noah Brown, who has been sidelined since week two. But it also marks the next step for an offense that has battled through injuries all through the 2025 season with Daniels’ return coming one week after wide receiver Terry McLaurin returned to boost the receiving corp, blowing through his pre-game snap count as the veteran recorded the overtime touchdown in the 27-26 loss.
While the question about whether a return should materialize given postseason hopes all but officially dashed, Washington has remained consistent about the prospect of giving the reigning Rookie of the Year as many reps as possible regardless of season outcome. Whether that consistently holds true over the final month remains to be seen with divisional opponents, including two matchups against Philadelphia, set to close out the final four games of the season.
For now, against a Minnesota team that has struggled to score points, Washington will now look to find their groove in hopes of snapping a seven-game losing streak.
“I felt good going into the practice through Wednesday just by the way he threw the ball and that kind of carried over into [Thursday] and after they did a lot of the post practice work, contact and that, the throwing part, you can tell he’s been on that. Not just the throwing part, he’s been on that the whole time. That looked as sharp as ever. I thought that part would come but we wanted to see everybody around him with the gameplan of how it would work so I just though the whole week, John, he threw a hell of a week.”
Sunday now marks the return of a pair of second-year quarterbacks with Minnesota Vikings quarterback JJ McCarthy officially clearing concussion protocol and set to return to the starting lineup after missing last week’s 28-0 loss vs. Seattle.
Kickoff is set for 1 PM ahead of the final non-divisional matchup of the Commanders’ 2025 season.
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