The Washington Commanders’ 2025 season continues to spiral as quarterback Jayden Daniels suffered yet another injury during the team’s Week 9 “Sunday Night Football” matchup, a 38–7 blowout loss that underscored what has become an exercise in Murphy’s Law whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.
Jayden Daniels, already battling multiple injuries this season, was making his return to action after missing time with a hamstring issue. But his night and perhaps his season took a devastating turn late in the fourth quarter.
The injury occurred with 7:29 remaining in the game, when Jayden Daniels’ left elbow was twisted backward on a play that left him writhing in visible pain. The scene at Northwest Stadium was grim as medical staff rushed to assist him. The 2024 Offensive Rookie of the Year was eventually helped off the field with his arm in a cast and taken to the locker room for X-rays, according to the NBC broadcast.
After the game, head coach Dan Quinn confirmed that Jayden Daniels had suffered a left elbow injury but said the team did not yet have a further update on his condition.
When asked whether the team had considered removing Jayden Daniels from the game earlier given the Commanders were trailing by 31 points at the time Quinn said that wasn’t part of the mindset on the sideline.
“Not at that space … you don’t want to think that way where an injury can take place,” Quinn told reporters postgame.
Jayden Daniels’ injury marks another brutal chapter in what’s been a season full of setbacks for Washington and its young star. The 24-year-old quarterback has now been forced to leave four games due to injury missing Weeks 3 and 4 with a knee issue, Week 8 with a hamstring strain, and now suffering the latest blow to his elbow.
With Jayden Daniels sidelined, Marcus Mariota once again stepped in under center. Mariota, who has already started several games this season in Daniels’ absence, figures to take over the starting role for the foreseeable future if Daniels is forced to miss extended time, while veteran Josh Johnson remains next in line as the backup. Daniels remains the unquestioned starter and face of the franchise as he goes, so do the Commanders. His leadership and dual-threat ability have been the driving force behind Washington’s offense, and losing him again could derail the team’s hopes of staying in the playoff race.
Jayden Daniels has been the heart of the franchise since being selected with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. His electric playmaking ability and leadership helped inject life into a long-struggling team, earning him Rookie of the Year honors and national recognition as one of the NFL’s brightest young stars.
Now, the Commanders face the grim prospect of continuing their playoff chase without their franchise quarterback a daunting task for a team that has struggled to find consistency on both sides of the ball.
The Commanders are expected to provide a more detailed medical update on Daniels’ status early this week, following further evaluation. For now, Washington fans are left holding their breath and hoping this latest setback isn’t a season-ending one for their young leader.
As the losses and injuries pile up, the Commanders’ 2025 campaign is quickly becoming one to forget.