Jayden Daniels felt optimistic about his ability to start as quarterback for the Washington Commanders against the Chicago Bears, despite a rib injury. He kept everyone guessing until shortly before the game, but he ultimately took the field and played a tough game, leading the Commanders to an 18-15 victory with a last-second Hail Mary touchdown.
“I wasn’t even worried about it as soon as I stepped on that field,” Daniels said after completing 21 of 38 passes for 326 yards and throwing a touchdown to Noah Brown as time expired. “You can still feel it, but at the end of the day I started the game. I wanted to finish it, so there was nothing else that was going to take me out of that game.”
Daniels had exited the previous week’s game against Carolina due to the same injury, which caused him to miss practice at the start of the week. His limited participation on Friday was crucial in allowing him to suit up for the game.
“We pushed him on Friday in terms of the different throws,” said head coach Dan Quinn. “Once all the markers were hit, then we felt comfortable with him playing. But it was due to all the work that was put in Friday.”
After feeling better following the Friday workout, Daniels woke up on game day ready to play. However, there remained the possibility that veteran Marcus Mariota would start if Daniels felt any discomfort during warmups.
“It was his first injury that we had to go through together this week to find out what would be possible and what wouldn’t be,” Quinn said. “I wanted to see him demonstrate that earlier in the week to allow him to play because if he wasn’t able to do that, then he wouldn’t have been able to play.”
Throughout the game, Daniels endured significant pressure, getting sacked twice and hit multiple times after throwing. He also contributed to the ground game with eight carries for 52 yards.
“He took a lot of hits today — probably more hits than I’ve seen him take all season,” running back Brian Robinson Jr. said. “Already dealing with something, he just showed how tough he is. Obviously, you want to minimize those hits on him, but he just continues to prove how tough he is.”