Jayden Daniels injury: Dan Quinn takes full blame for leaving Commanders QB in game

The Washington Commanders’ season went sideways when, late in a blowout on Sunday night, star quarterback Jayden Daniels suffered a severe arm injury. At the time, the game was seemingly out of reach, immediately earning head coach Dan Quinn criticism for the decision to leave his star quarterback in the game.

Quinn opened his press conference on Monday, addressing that decision to leave Daniels in the game. There, he shouldered the responsibility for that decision.

“I get that,” Dan Quinn said. “I’ve been thinking about it nonstop too and, man, I missed it. … That is 100% on me.”

Jayden Daniels has missed time this season with separate knee issues and a hamstring issue. That’s what made the decision to have Daniels not only in the game but running the ball so curious. After the game finished, Dan Quinn tried to address that, explaining that the read doesn’t usually end in a quarterback run.

“Obviously, the hindsight,” Quinn said. “You don’t want to think that way that an injury would take place. We were more conservative in that spot to run and hand off. Just the end result, obviously I’m bummed. …We didn’t have any read plays on it. The one that he was injured, there’s usually a runner or a throw to the flat, not a scramble. So it wasn’t a designed read or play into that spot. If we run it 50 times it’s either a handoff or a throw 50 times.”

The reality now is that Jayden Daniels is likely done for the season. His initial diagnosis was a dislocated elbow in his non-throwing arm. However, more tests are being done. Still, as ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter shared on Monday morning, it looks bad.

“He’s going to have an MRI today to confirm that diagnosis,” Schefter said. “Which I think everybody saw what happened. He’s going to be out indefinitely. Think about where the Commanders are in their season and think about how much Jayden Daniels means to that franchise, and think about the history of this franchise. I would venture to tell you right now there’s a realistic chance Jayden Daniels will not play again this season.”

If this is the end of the run for Jayden Daniels this season, it’s been a very difficult follow-up to his Offensive Rookie of the Year performance a season ago. In the six games he’s played in, Daniels has completed 62.5 percent of his passes for 1,184 yards and eight touchdowns. Daniels also carried the ball for 262 yards and two touchdowns.

 Washington fell to 3-6 on the season. That’s third in the NFC East. So, backup quarterback Marcus Mariota needs to hit the ground running now.