Is Jayden Daniels Playing Today? (Injury Update, Betting Impact for Seahawks vs. Commanders in NFL Week 3)

Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels suffered a dislocated elbow in Week 2 against the Dallas Cowboys, and he's been ruled out for Sunday's game against the Seattle Seahawks.

Daniels suffered the same injury in the 2025 season and missed several games, but the Commanders are not planning on putting the former No. 2 overall pick on injured reserve, which would force him to miss at least four weeks.

Still, NFL insider Ian Rapoport reported that Daniels is unlikley to return in Week 4, meaning the Commanders will start veteran Marcus Mariota in his place.

Rap: Jayden Daniels (left elbow) unlikely to return in Week 4.
— Underdog NFL (@UnderdogNFL) September 25, 2026

Mariota made multiple starts in the 2025 season, leading the Commanders to a 2-6 record in those games. He played in 11 games overall, completing 61.2 percent of his passes for 1,695 yards, 10 scores and seven picks.

Even though Daniels is expected to return this season, there is a chance that the star quarterback will need surgery on his elbow following the season. With Washington already sitting at 0-2 and facing an uphill battle to make the playoffs, it's possible that Daniels will be a similar situation late in the season as he was in 2025 when the team shut him down over the final weeks.

Surgery remains a strong possibility for Jayden Daniels after the season. But the Commanders QB was determined to avoid that scenario now and specialists agreed, so he’ll brace his balky elbow and return to play in the coming weeks.

Details in The Sweep: https://t.co/WZFvbOAoD5 pic.twitter.com/z34gabRLFe
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) September 26, 2026

Daniels' injury has caused some massive line movement, especially since Sam Darnold (glute) is set to return for Seattle after missing most of the first two weeks.

DraftKings Sportsbook opened this game with the Commanders set as 3.5-point underdogs at home, but the line quickly moved to Seattle -5.5 once Daniels went down in Week 2. Now, with Darnold set to start for Seattle, the line has settled at 7.5 before Sunday's kickoff. So, a full four-point shift even though Washington is the home team on Sunday.

Prior to going down with his elbow injury in Week 2, Daniels had completed 11 of 17 passes against Dallas for 96 yards and a score. He threw a pair of touchdowns in the Week 1 loss to Philadelphia, and the Commanders were in the mix to win both games while Daniels was out there.

Now, Washington has to hope that the quarterback can make a quick recovery to salvage any playoff chances in the 2026 season.

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