Fortunately, the discussion is over. On Friday, Washington commanders Coach Dan Quinn has made it official: guard Jayden Daniels will return to the starting lineup for Sunday's game against Minnesota Vikings.
There will be no more debate about Commanders should sit with Daniels for the rest of the season because they are 3-9 and have lost seven games in a row. Many fans and analysts have divided opinions on this matter. We laid out our case for why Daniels should play as soon as he recovers.
Advertising
After winning the 2024 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, Daniels had a season to forget. He suffered a hamstring strain in Week 2 against the Packers and missed two games. He returned in Week 5 and looked great, leading the Commanders to an impressive road win over the Chargers.
Things seemed to go wrong for Washington after their Week 6 loss to the Chicago Bears. Daniels played well, aside from an early interception, and appeared close to giving the Commanders the win until he dropped a pass, giving the Bears excellent field position. Chicago would win the game with a last-second field goal. Washington hasn't won a game since then.
Daniels sprained his knee in week seven and will miss the following week. He returned in week nine and suffered a horrific elbow injury. Luckily, it was only dislocated and not broken, and Daniels returns on Sunday.
Daniels has made it clear that if he's healthy, he wants to get on the field. This is the right attitude. And Washington had no plans to shut it down when it reached 100%.
Advertising
When Quinn announced that Daniels would return in Week 14, he explained why it was important for Daniels to finish the season.
“Yeah, it's really important for him, for his teammates, for any of the guys, honestly,” Quinn said Friday.
“And with five games, that's 30 percent of our season. There's a lot; it all matters. And as he develops, there are certain things that he's working on as well to move forward and be competitive as hell and take care of the things that he can. And that's really important. And so when the process starts, we're ready to get started on that.”
Quinn was absolutely right here. As great as Daniels was as a rookie, he missed a lot of time this season. When he played, he didn't have the best receivers, including Terry McLaurin. McLaurin returned last week. If Noah Brown plays Sunday, it will be the first time since Week 2 that Daniels will take the field alongside the team's three projected top receivers.
Advertising
Daniels hasn't been as sharp this season. He wasn't bad, just not as sharp as you'd expect when he was in and out of the lineup and playing without his best playmakers. So even if Washington is eliminated from the playoff race (not officially), every rep is important to Daniels. While the momentum of one season never carries over to the next, live repeats trump everything else.
In last week's overtime loss to the Broncos, the Commanders proved that this team still has a lot of fighting left to do. Don't tell Quinn and these players that the rest of the season doesn't matter.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Washington Commanders: Dan Quinn on Why Jayden Daniels Should Return
