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Washington Post (paywall)
Jayden Daniels misses practice, leaving his status for Sunday in question
The Commanders’ star quarterback is nursing a knee sprain ahead of a matchup with the Raiders.
After getting banged up during the Commanders’ Week 2 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Thursday, Daniels had an MRI exam Friday that revealed the nature of his injury. Coach Dan Quinn said Daniels’s rehab is off to “a good start” and included a throwing session. But the coaching staff will need to see him back on the field with the rest of the team before feeling comfortable with letting
him play Sunday, Quinn said.
If Daniels can’t play, Marcus Mariota is slated to start in his place. The 31-year-old received significant snaps in two games last season; he helped the Commanders secure a victory each time.
The Athletic (paywall)
NFL backup QBs will be everywhere in Week 3. How will their teams respond?
Washington Commanders
Timeline: Daniels’ return timeline is unknown; on Monday, Quinn called him “truly day to day.”
Upcoming schedule: vs. Raiders (Sept. 21), at Falcons (Sept. 28), at Chargers (Oct. 5).
The Commanders re-signed Marcus Mariota in the offseason primarily for these moments. They know he can be relied upon to step in and close out games after he did so twice last season. The first was in Week 7, when Daniels suffered a rib injury during the opening drive against the Carolina Panthers. Mariota led Washington on six scoring drives in a 40-7 win. Then, in the season finale, when Washington pulled Daniels because of “mild leg soreness,” Mariota threw the game-winning touchdown to Terry McLaurin to clinch the No. 6 playoff seed.
The transition to Mariota was fairly seamless in both games; he knows Kliff Kingsbury’s system well, and Kingsbury has shown he can adapt to his quarterback. But few quarterbacks can do what Daniels can when healthy, so turning to Mariota for an extended period would inherently bring changes in Washington.
Still, Mariota is possibly the best option in these situations. He’s more than just an insurance policy. Like Daniels, he was the second pick (2015) and a Heisman Trophy winner. He’s also played in multiple systems, and has the right temperament to be the No. 2 — largely because of his perspective. He’s been a starter, he’s been benched, he’s been a gadget QB, he’s been the backup and he’s dealt with many injuries in between. — Nicki Jhabvala, Commanders beat writer
ESPN
Commanders’ Mariota: Ready to play if Daniels can’t vs. Raiders
Washington will provide a further update on Daniels’ status Friday. In the meantime, Mariota will get all the snaps with the first-team offense — as he did before Week 8 against Chicago last season when Daniels dealt with a rib injury. Daniels ended up playing in that game, capping his day with a 52-yard Hail Mary pass to stun the Bears.
“My routine stays the same,” said Mariota, who re-signed with Washington in the offseason. “It just kind of creates that normal procedure for me, and it allows me just to go out there and play and not have to worry about, OK, I got to do this extra, I got to do that. I just kind stick to my process and allow that process to work.”
Commanders.com
Practice notes | Preston Smith excited to be back where his legacy started
In many ways, the Commanders are not the same team that Smith, a second-round draft pick by the franchise, left back in 2018. For starters, they have a new name and head coach, but the facilities themselves, from the locker room to the meeting spaces, have had a significant upgrade in the last two years. Now that he has signed with the team once again, he joins just four other players who have memories of what the team used to be seven years ago.
But the aesthetics aren’t the only things that have improved in Smith’s absence. The franchise is heading in a new, exciting direction, and that’s what enticed him to rejoin the Burgundy & Gold.
“I was ecstatic,” Smith said. “This is where it started for me. This is the place I called home for the first years in the league … I’m just happy to continue my legacy here where it started.”
The Commanders have had their eye on Smith for a while. He has built a reputation as a solid pass-rusher with 70.5 career sacks — the 12th most among active players — with 443 tackles in 163 games. Despite being in his early 30s, Smith has found a way to contribute, as he recorded 4.5 sacks and 32 tackles with the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers in 2024.
The opportunity for Smith’s return to the franchise arose once defensive end Deatrich Wise Jr. was ruled out for the rest of the season. They were looking for size and pass-rush depth to replace Wise, and Smith (6-foot-5, 265 pounds) was deemed a good fit for what they were searching for.
Smith was a mainstay of the Commanders’ defense during his first four-year stint, appearing in 64 games with 50 starts. He became a full-time starter in his second season and made 48 consecutive starts from 2016-18. In that span, he recorded four interceptions, nine pass breakups and two fumble recoveries, one of which was a game-sealing touchdown over the Dallas Cowboys in 2018.
There aren’t many players left from Smith’s previous season with the Commanders. Daron Payne, Tress Way and Jeremy Reaves are the only ones who didn’t leave for other opportunities. Josh Johnson, who started three games for Washington in 2018, is the third quarterback on the roster, but he also spent some time away from the team.
Ryan Kerrigan is the other familiar face from Smith’s previous stint, although he’s now the team’s assistant linebackers coach/pass-rush specialist.
“It’s kind of crazy,” Smith said, to have a former teammate as a coach, but it does make things easier for him to work with someone who already has personal knowledge of his skill set.
Pro Football Network
Week 3 NFL Offensive Line Rankings 2025: Unlikely AFC, NFC South Contenders Emerge Atop League’s Best
12) Washington Commanders
- LT Laremy Tunsil: 79.5 (21st)
- C Tyler Biadasz: 79.1 (16th)
- RG Nick Allegretti: 78.5 (21st)
- LG Brandon Coleman: 75.1 (35th)
- RT Josh Conerly Jr.: 66.8 (56th)
While the Commanders’ pass-blocking unit has started to show signs of promise, it appears that they’re still the primary reason holding back this offensive success rate. Washington’s unit averages 1.37 yards before contact per carry, the third-best rate in the league.
Despite its success on the ground, this unit has faced its fair share of pressures in all facets, mainly in Week 2 against the Packers. Is this unit more of the Week 1 showing they produced or Week 2? The former moves them up the list. The latter drops them yet again.
Commanders.com
Commanders vs. Raiders preview | Back home for a visit from the Silver & Black
Heavy.com
Infamous NFL Twitter troll Dov Kleinman calls Terry McLaurin ‘the most overrated WR in the NFL’
“Just a friendly reminder that Terry McLaurin was the WR65 through Week 2 last year,” Fantasy Football Expert Bryce DeGroat wrote on his official X account on September 18. “And he still finished as the WR7 overall. It’s very early in the season. Don’t get too high or too low on anyone just yet.”
Commanders Wire
Commanders receivers are not creating separation
The Washington Commanders struggled offensively in Week 2 against the Green Bay Packers. Much of the focus was on quarterback Jayden Daniels, who had his worst NFL start. While Daniels did not turn the ball over, he was ineffective as a runner throughout the game and didn’t move the ball consistently through the air until the fourth quarter.
Pass protection was a problem for Washington. Rookie right tackle Josh Conerly Jr. and right guard Nick Allegretti combined to allow 15 pressures, nine hurries and four sacks, via TruMedia. Daniels would finish the game, but did sprain his knee, leaving his status for Week 3 unclear.
It’s not fair to blame everything on Daniels or the offensive line. Washington’s receivers weren’t doing a good job of creating separation. Check out this chart via Fantasy Points, and you’ll notice the four Washington players who ran 30 pass routes or more against the Packers in Week 2 struggled to get open consistently.
NFL.com
Washington D.C. City Council approves Commanders’ return to RFK Stadium site
The Washington Commanders’ plan to return to the site of their former home at RFK Stadium cleared its final hurdle with the local legislature Wednesday when the District of Columbia Council approved the legislation.
The bill passed by an 11-2 vote and can now be sent to Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser, who negotiated the original plan with Commanders owner Josh Harris in April, with the team contributing $2.7 billion and the city investing roughly $1.1 billion for the stadium, housing, green space and a sports complex on land bordering the Anacostia River.
The Council gave preliminary approval to the plan last month, but a second vote was required. Although there was plenty of debate Wednesday, particularly regarding ways to hold the team accountable for development commitments, by the time the final vote occurred, the mood was largely celebratory.
One Council member, Democrat Matthew Frumin, switched his vote to yes Wednesday after opposing the bill last month.
“It’s gonna happen,” he said. “Let’s all get shoulder to shoulder and make this as great as it can be.”
Front Office Sports
$3.8 Billion Commanders Stadium Deal Approved Despite Late Drama
“An NFL stadium by itself is not a good investment. … But we’re talking about a bigger vision for the city and where we’re going to be in 50 years,” said council member Charles Allen. He was an initial skeptic on the deal who cheered the subsequent improvements to the framework to build “the most transit-friendly stadium in the NFL.”
That vote, however, only happened after frenetic last-minute negotiations early Wednesday between council leaders and the Commanders. Several council members sought to have a series of amendments passed that would have more substantively changed the deal agreed to last month.
In particular, the Commanders could have been on the hook for significant financial penalties for missing development milestones, in some cases reaching $10 million per year, with few, if any, carveouts for outside circumstances. Another potential amendment that failed would have seen land under team control clawed back by D.C. if undeveloped by 2050.
The team wrote a letter to the council on Wednesday morning that it was “presented with a list of unworkable and impractical new last-minute demands … which we simply cannot agree to as it jeopardizes the deal.”
The discord was largely resolved during a lengthy, closed-door meeting that delayed the start of the council hearing by two hours, and the financial penalty element in particular was later formally rejected by the council. The amendments approved late Wednesday were more technical in nature, relating to matters such as covenants around environmental standards and the routing of some stadium fees to community reinvestment.
ESPN
D.C. Council signs off on Commanders’ RFK Stadium Project
Washington announced a deal with the city to build a stadium at the site where RFK Stadium — its home from 1961 to 1996 — still sits. The 174-acre property will become a mixed-use facility with housing developments, a sports complex and retail shops. The stadium will be domed, and although the Commanders haven’t ruled out a retractable roof, the cost of one — plus the possible returns — likely will be prohibitive, a source with knowledge of the situation said this summer.
Bowser told ESPN in July that the team could start infrastructure work in the “early part of next year and get shovels in the ground this time next year.”
“It is with great pride that I can say we are officially bringing our Commanders home and turning 180 acres of land on the banks of the Anacostia, on the monumental axis, into jobs and opportunity for DC residents,” Bowser said in a statement after Wednesday’s vote. “This will be the largest economic development project in DC history.”
The old stadium has not been completely torn down yet. The site became a sentimental one for Washington fans because of the team’s success during most of its time. Harris and some of his minority owners grew up in the area and have talked about going to games at RFK.
Podcasts & videos
Technical Teamwork + Las Vegas Raiders Deep Dive | Film Breakdown Show | Washington Commanders | NFL
Las Vegas Raiders vs Washington Commanders | Week 3 Game Preview
COMMANDERS SQUAD | 🚨 Jayden Daniels UPDATE + Preston Smith RETURNS – Commanders vs Raiders Preview
Commanders Have a PERFECT Game Plan to Exploit Raiders’ Biggest Weakness | Crossover Thursday
NFC East links
Blogging the Boys
3 questions from Cowboys’ Week 2 win over Giants
Was that just a bad day, or a bad sign, for pass defense?
A week after Giants fans were calling for him to be benched, Russell Wilson went off for 450 yards. It wasn’t surgical, but rather a series of deep bombs that made Trevon Diggs and other defensive backs look equal parts hapless and helpless. Now that New York’s exposed this liability in the secondary, are the Cowboys about to start getting torched every week?
Obviously, Matt Eberflus has to figure some things out. This zone-heavy, double-high safety scheme is quite different from what some of our DBs were used to under Mike Zimmer and Dan Quinn. Thankfully, Dallas was able to withstand these big plays and escape with a win. But now that what the Giants did is on tape, it’s on our coaches to make mitigating adjustments.
Eberflus also needs to get some of his key players back. DaRon Bland’s absence was sorely felt, and hopefully, he’ll be able to suit back up by the Week 4 game against Green Bay. We’re also hoping that the current version of Diggs is still working through rust and has higher levels of play ahead of him. Also, what will guys like Caelen Carson and Shavon Revel Jr. offer when they finally make their 2025 debuts?
Big Blue View
Malik Nabers – Interception ‘was 100 percent my fault’
Giants’ head coach Brian Daboll and quarterback Russell Wilson both said after the Giants’ overtime loss to the Dallas Cowboys that the overtime interception that led to the loss was a miscommunication. On Wednesday, Nabers took responsibility for that miscommunication.
“That’s my fault,” Nabers said. He went on to say that he was concentrating on how he was being played, and not on whether Wilson was going to attack down the field.
“I should have been in more communication with Russ to know what we were trying to do. I was locked in on trying to figure out how the defense was playing me at the time, and I wasn’t really looking at the right time for him to give me what he gave me to try to change the run-up. That’s 100% my fault. I should have been in communication with Russ the whole time.”
Pro Football Talk
Jalen Hurts takes “accountability” for stagnant passing game
Hurts is the only starting quarterback in the NFL without a passing touchdown.
“Given the opportunities that we had, I’m very critical of myself, trying to make the most of what’s given to us,” Hurts said. “There’s definitely some evolution that we can do. There are definitely some things that we can grow in, but I look inward on all of those things.”
The Eagles did not play their starters in the preseason despite Hurts having a new play-caller in Kevin Patullo. The chemistry between Hurts and Patullo is growing, albeit slowly.
ESPN
Evaluating surprise trends for 32 NFL teams: Real or not?
Dallas Cowboys
The early surprise: Four rushing touchdowns.
The verdict: Real. That might not sound impressive to some folks, but the Cowboys had just six rushing touchdowns last season. Six. Javonte Williams has three, the most by a Dallas running back through two games since Marion Barber in 2008. Miles Sanders has the fourth. New offensive coordinator Klayton Adams helped design Arizona’s run game and has brought some changes to how the Cowboys get it done on the ground, particularly by getting his linemen on the move. Last year, the Cardinals had 18 rushing touchdowns. Good red zone teams run the ball into the end zone. If the Cowboys can be a threat on the ground inside the opponents’ 20, it will help Dak Prescott and his pass catchers find some space, too. — Todd Archer
New York Giants
The early surprise: Bottom-five rushing attack.
The verdict: Real. The offensive line isn’t great at pass blocking. There was a belief based on the second half of last season that it would at least be a better run-blocking unit. But the Giants have problems on the interior of their offensive line, a main reason they are averaging a paltry 79.0 yards on the ground. They get minimal push. That seems unlikely to magically change, and the running game is already searching for answers. Tyrone Tracy Jr. was replaced by Cam Skattebo as the primary ball carrier after one week. — Jordan Raanan
Philadelphia Eagles
The early surprise: A.J. Brown has not been a major factor in the offense, catching just six balls for 35 yards.
The verdict: Mirage. Brown has had over 1,000 yards receiving in each of his three seasons in Philadelphia and has gone over 1,400 yards twice. He has averaged 15.6 yards per reception over his career compared with just 5.8 through two games. The Eagles pass game is still finding its way under new offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo. This is a run-oriented offense but that hasn’t stopped Brown from being productive. He missed significant time this summer with a hamstring injury. Assuming his health continues to trend in a positive direction, he should be back to filling up the stat sheet before long. — Tim McManus
Washington Commanders
The early surprise: Terry McLaurin is on pace for less than 700 yards.
The verdict: Mirage. McLaurin has topped 1,000 yards in five consecutive seasons so there’s no reason to believe his production won’t increase. But the slow start was somewhat expected given that he missed all of training camp (in addition to OTA and minicamp practices) while holding out/in. He’s receiving a similar number of targets as he did last year (6.88 in 2024; 6.5 in 2025) and he was getting open vs. Green Bay — but the Packers’ pass rush often negated chances. McLaurin is still getting open — when he runs a route after lining up wide left (his usual spot), he’s averaging 2.53 yards of separation compared with 2.63 last year. It’s a matter of time for McLaurin. — John Keim
Upcoming opponent
Silver & Black Pride
Raiders rookie watch: Waiting on Ashton Jeanty to break out
It’s been a quiet start for the No. 6 overall draft pick. He had 43 yards on 11 carries. He isn’t getting much blocking, but Jeanty has admitted he still needs to work on the adjusting to the speed of the game. He’s had his moments, but Jeanty does need to get going and he also has to work on his pass protection. It will come together for Jeanty sooner or later. Maybe this is the week.
Silver & Black Pride
How Justin Herbert picked apart Raiders’ defense
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert did manage to complete over 70 percent of his passing attempts (19/27) for 242 yards and two touchdowns, while the Raiders earned an ugly 43.4 coverage grade from Pro Football Focus.
While Herbert didn’t have many highlight throws, attempting just three passes 20 or more yards down the field and four in the 10-19 yard range, per PFF, he seemed to have an answer for everything that Las Vegas’ defensive coordinator Patrick Graham was throwing at him.
How did that happen? Let’s flip on the tape and take a look.
Discussion topics
The Athletic (paywall)
Mike McDaniels was the NFL’s next coaching prodigy; then the Dolphins started losing
It was September 2023, and McDaniel, in his second season, was hotter than a South Florida Bikram yoga studio. The next Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami dropped 70 points on the Denver Broncos. Had McDaniel not eschewed a late field goal attempt, the Dolphins could have broken the NFL’s single-game regular-season scoring record. The quirky, unconventional coach had injected life into a staid and hyper-serious profession.
Two years later, the football-watching world has turned on McDaniel. Now people aren’t laughing with him; they’re laughing at him. His presence on the visitors’ sidelines at Highmark Stadium on Thursday night will not be a comfortable one.
Coming off a vexing home defeat to the Patriots, the reeling Dolphins (0-2) are heavy underdogs against the Buffalo Bills. An embarrassing loss to the 2-0 Bills in a nationally televised standalone game could compel Miami owner Stephen Ross to bring an abrupt end to a once-celebrated coaching experiment.
Only Ross knows whether things are that dire, but the buzzards (metaphorically) are circling — and so, literally, is an airplane: Before Sunday’s game at Hard Rock, fans looked up to see a small aircraft toting a crowdsourced banner (“FIRE GRIER. FIRE McDANIEL”) urging the dismissal of the coach and the general manager (Chris Grier) who hired him.
Life comes at you fast in the NFL, especially when you are an eccentric dude with a distinct fashion sense and an ultra-dry sense of humor.
For most of McDaniel’s first two seasons, a lot of people got the jokes and grooved on the vibe.
These days, the laugh lines aren’t landing — perhaps even in the Dolphins’ locker room.
[U]nless and until the Dolphins start winning again, McDaniel will remain a punch line and punching bag for a large section of the football world that, even amid the early affection, always saw him as an unnerving outlier. A day after the Dolphins absorbed a season-opening, 33-8 thrashing at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts, former New York Jets and Bills coach Rex Ryan — whose idea of “cool” once included foot-fetish videos — called McDaniel “nerd boy” during a diatribe on ESPN’s “Get Up.”
“Maybe he’s on a different level, McGenius guy, or whatever the hell he is. Nerd boy,” Ryan said. “Their team has no respect for the coach. They play like that. They’re like ‘Come on, man, get us a dang guy in here.’ Where’s the physicality of this team? They’re soft. … They have tons of talent. They don’t play with any passion.”
It’s not just old-school coaches like Ryan who are coming for McDaniel. Many of the people who loved him in the beginning — and I imagine some of the people reading this fall into this category — are rolling their eyes at his perceived schtick, authentic as it may be.
