Commanders come to disappointing, but necessary decision on Jayden Daniels

The Washington Commanders are not going to play quarterback Jayden Daniels for the rest of the season.

Daniels left the team's Week 14 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings after re-aggravating his elbow injury and did not play in Week 15 against the New York Giants. Commanders head coach Dan Quinn explained his reasoning behind the decision.

"As of today, he still wasn't all the way clear to play. So, like last week, wouldn't have all the results until the end of the week, and then a short week next week with the Christmas game. So, we believe this decision allows him to take advantage of the next few weeks in a different way. He wants to practice and he will practice," Quinn said.

"He also wants to support [QB] Marcus [Mariota] in a way that Marcus has demonstrated and helped him. And so like, I thought that was significant. We all know the best way to grow is during the games, but with that, you know, not being the best way for us, there's plenty of ways for him to learn, you know, over the next three weeks. And you know, he is going to learn from this vantage point too."

Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels drops back to pass against the Minnesota Vikings. | Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

Daniels heads to bench for rest of the season

While this was a difficult conclusion for the Commanders to come to, it is the right one. Daniels represents the future of the franchise, and another injury or two in an already lost season would not be doing the quarterback of the Commanders justice.

Daniels is a competitor, so he wants to play if he is healthy. But at this point, it's about preserving his health for the offseason and beyond.

The Commanders will roll with Marcus Mariota as they take on the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 16. Kickoff is scheduled for Saturday at 5 p.m. ET inside Northwest Stadium.

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