The Washington Commanders are returning to Northwest Stadium to play the Philadelphia Eagles in their second of four straight division games to close out the 2025 season. Here are three headlines to watch before the Saturday game.
1. More changes at quarterback.
The Commanders have had a rough season when it comes to the quarterback position with Jayden Daniels suffering multiple injuries in seven games. The most recent — a reaggravation of the elbow dislocation he sustained against the Seattle Seahawks — will be his last, as head coach Dan Quinn announced that Daniels would sit for the remainder of the year.
Marcus Mariota, who has already appeared in 10 games for Washington this season, will take over as the starter. Mariota has completed 62% of his passes for 1,600 yards with 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
“He’s an impactful guy here, for a lot of reasons,” Quinn said. “But also, it’s the play on the field and having him, the full three games to go take all the reps and do the preparation to go, that’s a big deal. And so, we wanted to give him that opportunity as well to make sure he had the timing, the execution, the practice reps. Sometimes when you’re the backup, not getting the game reps with the guys that are in during the week that can change it. So, that was part of the goal for sure.”
Mariota, who was also the backup quarterback last season, re-signed with the Commanders on a one-year deal in March. Mariota has a strong reputation among his teammates and the coaching staff for his leadership and guidance that he’s provided Daniels over the last two seasons. It’s likely the Commanders already want to re-sign him, but three solid performances to close out the season would provide even more reason for them to keep him.