The Washington Commanders have gotten some unexpectedly good news on quarterback Jayden Daniels.
According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, tests revealed that Daniels, who suffered a dislocated elbow in Week 9, didn't suffer any ligament damage and surgery won't be needed.
Rapoport goes on to add that he will not be placed on injured reserve immediately, which lends to the idea he could be back sooner than later.
"Sources: Commanders QB Jayden Daniels’ MRI and medical opinions revealed positive news, as his dislocated left elbow is not as serious as originally anticipated. There was no ligament damage and he won't need surgery. Daniels will not be immediately placed on Injured Reserve," Rapoport reported.
Rapoport says that Daniels will be re-evaluated during the team's Week 12 bye and cautions that there are still "multiple factors" at play when considering how the Commanders will proceed.
One of those factors will likely be the Commanders' playoff chances, which are on life support as the team enters Week 10. Washington has a tough game against the Detroit Lions coming up, and then a contest against the lowly Miami Dolphins.
It's conceivable that the best Washington can hope for is a 1-1 mark in those two games, as they're going to have a very tough time beating Detroit with the way Washington's defense has played this season.
With Daniels on the shelf, we also wouldn't rule out the Commanders losing to the Dolphins, who are much more capable of beating Washington with its starter sidelined.
The Commanders will be 4-7 at best after their next two games, or 3-8 at worst.
At that point, the Commanders would probably be better off just shutting Daniels down for the remainder of 2025 to avoid the star quarterback getting hurt in meaningless games and having that impact their 2026 campaign.
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