Jayden Daniels injury update: Washington Commanders QB's status for Sunday's game revealed

Jayden Daniels isn’t practicing for the third day in a row. Per Washington Commanders reporter Ben Standig, their star quarterback isn’t trending in the right direction while nursing a knee injury.

That had Daniels’ status for Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders in major doubt. Later, Adam Schefter confirmed that sentiment on Friday, revealing the Commanders star quarterback will miss this weekend’s contest: “Now official: Commanders HC Dan Quinn said Marcus Mariota will start Sunday versus the Raiders,” Schefter posted on X.

Daniels suffered the injury in the 27-18 loss to the Green Bay Packers last Thursday. Earlier this week, Washington head coach Dan Quinn said he wanted to make sure Daniels can “absolutely be himself” in order to play this Sunday. It’s clear they’re taking a cautious approach with their QB1.

He spoke to reporters on Wednesday. There, Quinn confirmed that Friday would be an important day for Daniels: “Jayden had a good rehab session day,” Quinn said, per CBS Sports. “He also threw out on the field. He won’t practice today, and then as we get into Friday, I’ll give you an assessment of where we’re at after we go through practice on Friday.”

Additionally, since Daniels is not practicing, it was Mariota who spoke with the media earlier this week, which is a spot generally reserved for the starting quarterback. Mariota played in three games for Washington last year, throwing for 364 yards and four touchdowns, while rushing for 92 yards and one score. All of these signs are pointing toward Daniels being held out on Sunday.

In two games so far this year, Daniels has completed 59.7 percent of his passes for 433 yards and three touchdowns, and rushed for 85 yards on 18 carries. He aims to build on a 2024 season where he led the Commanders to the NFC Championship game and was named Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Kickoff between the Commanders and Raiders is set for 1 p.m. ET. The game will air live on FOX. Mariota is getting the call.

— On3’s Barkley Truax and Brian Jones contributed to this report.