At this point, the Washington Commanders may not be playing for much of anything.
They're 3-8, and Jayden Daniels is working his way back from a dislocated left elbow that he sustained while Washington was trailing by 31 points midway through the fourth quarter a few weeks ago.
After such a promising 2024 season, the 2025 campaign has been anything but.
At this point, the Commanders' only remaining major decision is when, or if, to bring Daniels back.
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ESPN's pair of insiders, Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler, debated this in a new article out Wednesday. And they didn't quite reach a simple conclusion.
Here's the breakdown:
Graziano: As for Daniels, the Commanders have a bye this week and will examine everything. They've lost six games in a row to drop to 3-8 in what looked like a promising season, and there has been external debate about whether it makes sense to bring back Daniels at all this season. From what I've been told, the plan in Washington is still that Daniels will return to the starting lineup once doctors clear him from his elbow injury.
Fowler: Washington's situation with Daniels is more complicated from my view. Sources have maintained that while Daniels could return as quickly as three weeks from the occurrence of the injury (so, Week 13 vs. Denver), the team has loosely braced for a five-to-six-week absence just in case. That tells me that shutting him down remains a possibility, based on his durability this season (three separate injuries) and the team's current standing. Big-picture talks about how to proceed will play out over the coming days and provide clarity one way or the other.
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The Commanders have a Week 12 bye coming off their loss in Madrid to the Dolphins. The week off should allow for them to assess where they are and what they want to accomplish the rest of the season.
There will certainly be Washington fans that don't want to risk Daniels' health at all in a lost cause, and with memories of Robert Griffin III still lingering, that's probably fair.
We likely won't get a much better idea until a week from now as the Commanders prepare to return to game action.
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