The 3-8 Washington Commanders originally entered next Monday’s contest against the red-hot 9-2 Denver Broncos with a shred of optimism: 2024 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Pat Surtain II seemed poised to miss his fourth straight game.
However, the 2021 first-round pick returned to practice (in a limited capacity on Wednesday), sparking hope that he’ll return to face a Commanders offense still without star quarterback Jayden Daneils.
Surtain hurt his pec against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 8, news that was originally announced during an October Monday Night Football game.
The Broncos are coming off a bye. Head coach Sean Payton seemed to indicate that Surtain — along with linebacker Alex Singleton, who was recently diagnosed with testicular cancer — is nearing a return.
“We felt confident with he, and Patrick, and a few of these guys we’ve been without, this was kind of a target game,” he said earlier this week.
Surtain, the ninth pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, was a First-team All-Pro in his second year in the league. The three-time Pro Bowler hasn’t quite been at his best this season: his 68.6 PFF grade is a career low.
Without Surtain, the Broncos have relied on No. 2 CB Riley Moss to take on top assignments. Rookie first-round pick Jahdae Barron has assumed a larger job.
Denver Gazette reporter Chris Tomasson indicated that Surtain isn’t quite a certainty to play, though he is trending in the right direction.
“Broncos CB Pat Surtain (pec) said he wants to wait until Friday to see how the week of practice goes before potentially talking to media,” Tomasson tweeted. “He was limited in practice today after missing 3 games but Sean Payton said he should be “back in the lineup” and “ready to go” at Washington.”
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Daniels is still week-to-week for Washington, meaning backup Marcus Mariota will get another start. He’s been without top wideout Terry McLaurin for most of the campaign.
The Commanders are almost certainly out of playoff contention at 3-8. With another loss to next week, coach Dan Quinn could opt to shut Daniels down for the remainder of the 2025 campaign.