LANDOVER, Md. – The locker rooms after a game say a lot about a team. The winners, especially after the big game, rejoice, adult men pour water on the heroes and jump with childish joy. Enough to bring a smile to anyone's face. The dressing rooms of the vanquished seem solemn, and the liveliness of the room gives way to tension and disappointment.
There are also changing rooms such as Washington commanders' as Sunday evening turned into Monday morning. In large areas it was empty. By the time the media were allowed in, several players had already left. The rest of the players came out late. Some left and returned.
The reason for all the comings and goings? Jayden Danielswho was nearby in the bowels of Northwestern Stadium after suffering a gruesome game-ending elbow injury. As if disastrous 38-14 loss To Seahawks It wasn't enough, the face of the franchise and the leader of football's renaissance in the nation's capital was wounded, the cruelest twist of the knife in a season full of them.
“It hurt like hell, honestly it hurt like you can feel it right now,” he said. Josh JohnsonThe veteran backup guard speaks barely above a whisper. “Everyone is in shock. Everyone is a little stunned.
“This is the best thing I have prepared for you,” he said, letting out a tired half-laugh.
“It's very hard to see him fall,” he said. Bobby Wagnerone of Daniels' closest friends on the team, a veteran and a youngster who share their Southern California roots, trash tracks and basketball. “…This is a time of prayer. It’s a prayer and let him feel the emotions that he’s feeling and just send a lot of positivity out there.”
Then there was Zach Ertza veteran tight end whose career Daniels helped revive. He used one word to describe his feelings. “Distraught,” before adding: “I care about Jaden as a person much more than a player. The player is phenomenal, like I said, one of the best players in the league, but I'm worried about this man. He meant so much to me, our relationship.”
Coach Dan Quinn said he had not considered taking Daniels out of the game before the ill-fated trip. The Commanders trailed 38-7 when Daniels ran onto the field to make his final kick of the night. Without two of his top three receivers, Daniels found little in the backfield all night. With his offensive line often struggling, he took numerous hits. Washington essentially gave up winning the game; the attack did not involve rushing or attempting to attack from the air.
“Obviously I’m just shocked by it, I’m just upset,” Quinn said. “We didn't have any read plays, and the one he was injured on is usually a run or a throw to the flat. This is not a fight. This was not a planned reading or play activity at this location. If we do it 50 times, it will either be a pass or a shot 50 times.”
This is exactly the season it turned out to be for Washington. Aspects that should not happen, that cannot happen, that Not everything happened to make the team successful. The crime was complicated by injuries. The defense has become a jumbled mess. Seattle Sam Darnold was 16 of 16 for 282 yards and four touchdowns in the first half, becoming the first quarterback since at least 1990 to throw for 250 yards and four touchdowns while completing all of his passes in one half.
“For us to have the problems that allowed them to have that night is just amazing,” Quinn said. “We couldn't stop them and stopped ourselves completely. Obviously I'm furious.”
Even then, however, there was hope that Daniels provided, if not this season, but for the long term. He's already missed three games this season, two with an ankle injury and one with a hamstring. He suffered from sacks and scrambling. But this is the first time he's been injured in a completely losing game; teams down by 31 or more points in the fourth quarter are 0-464. Everything seemed so… empty. There's that word again.
Can this team protect him? Can he provide the support he needs on both defense and offense so he doesn't have to constantly chase plays or feel the weight of the offense squarely on his shoulders? The 54% pressure rate he faced Sunday night was the highest of his career. Second place (49%) took Packers in week two when he suffered an ankle injury. This is not a coincidence.
“I think the answer to that question is that we will support him in that,” Quinn said. “And I'm committed to making sure we do that in every way. And it's… offense, defense, all the way, man. I absolutely feel the same way with my hamstring injury and tonight with my elbow. It's important that we get this part right, and we will.”
But they won't – or can't, however you want to put it – this year. This is the brutally disappointing truth about a brutally disappointing football team. The oldest team in NFL looks from the outside. Quinn tried to change his personnel to get more speed on the field and simplify decisions to get his players to play faster. It worked for half of Week 8 against Kansas City before falling apart. It's never fell apart Monday night because it was a disaster from the start. There are no easy answers. There may be no answers this season.
“Last week I thought we took two steps forward, and today we took three steps back,” Quinn said. “And it's a terrible recipe.”
On the attacking side Terry McLaurinThe 30-year-old hasn't missed a game in four years. He's missed five games this year with a troubling (and frustrating, given his age) quadriceps injury. Noah Brown haven't played since week two. The offensive line is inconsistent. The running game fell apart.
The commanders may have been always due to regression. A little less luck in close games. A little less luck with injuries. A bit behind the aging cast. Big jump in schedule complexity. They tried to fight it. They tried to improve surrounding Daniels at left tackle. Laremy Tunsil and the right tackle Josh Conerly Jr.. and wide receiver Deebo Samuel. They tried to strengthen the defensive front and the secondary one.
It failed. Such is the fickle nature of football and squad formation. The surprise players who helped the Commanders reach their first NFC Championship Game in more than 30 years last year didn't have the same impact this year. Fundamental elements have been damaged or not reached.
Washington, now 3-6 and without its starting quarterback, is playing out its line. It's a staggering decline that no player or coach will acknowledge. They will talk, and have talked, about what it takes to turn the season around, about how to step up the game when their quarterback is down.
But this season has exposed serious flaws, and Daniels' latest injury highlighted that in bold red print for all to see. Daniels and the organization have a long way to go. The shock and sadness came on Sunday evening. Questions will continue to arise within the team, coaching staff and front office for weeks and months to come.
