{"id":382117,"date":"2025-09-20T05:47:28","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T05:47:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/382117\/"},"modified":"2025-09-20T05:47:28","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T05:47:28","slug":"commanders-jayden-daniels-is-not-on-the-field-for-the-start-of-practice-friday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/382117\/","title":{"rendered":"Commanders’ Jayden Daniels is not on the field for the start of practice Friday"},"content":{"rendered":"

ASHBURN, Va. (AP) \u2014 Washington Commanders<\/a> quarterback Jayden Daniels<\/a> will sit out Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders<\/a> because of an injured left knee, the first start he’ll miss since entering the NFL last season.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was just not all the way there yet,\u201d Commanders coach Dan Quinn said Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cSaid at the beginning: We were going to be very diligent on his return to play and make sure we didn\u2019t miss any steps,\u201d Quinn said. \u201cSo we\u2019re going to be smart, not just fast. The player wants to do everything all the time. That\u2019s who he is as a competitor, which I love.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a third consecutive day, Daniels was unable to practice fully on Friday; he was not on the field with the rest of the team during the portion of the workout open to the media, and the Commanders officially listed him as \u201climited.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marcus Mariota will replace Daniels in the lineup and make his first start since 2022 with the Atlanta Falcons. Mariota, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2015 draft after winning the Heisman Trophy at Oregon, came in during three games in relief of Daniels last season. Mariota was a backup with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe good thing about it is we have banked reps with Marcus. You know what I mean? So honestly, for me, nothing really changes. Obviously not having Jayden \u2014 he\u2019s a big part of our offense and our team. He\u2019s one of our leaders. We\u2019re better with him on the field,\u201d receiver Terry McLaurin said, adding that he and Mariota have spent time working together after practices for \u201cextra reps.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut at the same time, the game plan doesn\u2019t change with Marcus in there. They have similarities in their mobility. Nobody is like Jayden outside the pocket, but Marcus does have the ability to extend plays,” McLaurin said. “And with his \u2014 not just his maturity, but his \u2014 his veteran savvy, (Mariota) brings a calm to our offense that I just feel really stands out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daniels sat out practice on Wednesday and Thursday because of the knee and was wearing a brace on his left leg in the locker room.<\/p>\n

Quinn declined to discuss any specifics about the injury to the AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, who was hurt in Washington\u2019s 27-18 loss at the Green Bay Packers<\/a> in Week 2. Daniels was sacked four times and faced pressure throughout the game from a blitz-heavy Packers\u2019 defense.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re definitely encouraged about where the progress is being made,\u201d Quinn said Friday when asked about how long Daniels might be sidelined.<\/p>\n

Daniels went through rehabilitation work on the knee and did movement and throwing drills on his own this week, but Quinn said he wanted to see Daniels participate in practice with teammates before letting him play in a game.<\/p>\n

Mariota was rested during this year\u2019s training camp and preseason because of Achilles tendinitis and said that he\u2019s felt back to normal for a couple of weeks now.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just got such a strong grasp of what we do,” Quinn said.<\/p>\n

Mariota will be working with a new starting running back, which is expected to be rookie seventh-round draft pick Jacory Croskey-Merritt, now that Austin Ekeler is out for the season with a torn Achilles tendon. Two other players on offense were ruled out for Sunday: tight end John Bates (groin), a key blocker, and receiver Noah Brown (groin, knee).<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP NFL: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/nfl<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ASHBURN, Va. (AP) \u2014 Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels will sit out Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":382118,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2069],"tags":[31424,5576,31425,31423,2910,427,7,6,855,111,2480],"class_list":{"0":"post-382117","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-washington-commanders","8":"tag-ap-online-sports-headlines","9":"tag-ap-top-news","10":"tag-ap-top-news-l-twc-regions","11":"tag-ap-top-news-sports","12":"tag-associated-press","13":"tag-commanders","14":"tag-football","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-washington","17":"tag-washington-commanders","18":"tag-washingtoncommanders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115235051769484605","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/382118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}