We thought the Washington Commanders were ready to hang Jayden Daniels out to dry about a week ago. The third-year quarterback is still recovering from his second left elbow dislocation in less than a year. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed, and the Commanders held Daniels out of their Week 4 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
Unfortunately, that logic did not last very long. They seem officially ready to fast-track Daniels along the old Robert Griffin III development plan this week, a.k.a. potentially ruining the long-term prospects of a young franchise quarterback. The only "development" here is that Daniels is getting thrown back into the fire, three weeks after a serious injury, for an organization clearly much more desperate to win right
now than it probably should be.
While wearing a brace that almost certainly won't protect him from a vicious pass rusher's sheer force, Daniels was a full participant at Commanders practice on Wednesday. At the time of this writing, he has not officially been cleared for Sunday's game against the New York Giants. However, if he's a full participant during the Wednesday practice of the week — typically the meatiest and most important game-planning practice of an NFL team's average Sunday-to-Sunday schedule — that's as clear a sign as any that Washington is likely to give its quarterback the green light over the next few days.
I really hope none of this comes back to bite Daniels or the Commanders in the you-know-what:
Jayden Daniels throwing again today. Expected to be a full participant in practice. pic.twitter.com/R21ZuYUXTp
— John Keim (@john_keim) October 7, 2026
If Daniels playing in a game just three weeks after a gruesome injury isn't scary enough in itself, how about the fact that the Giants currently have the NFL's ninth-ranked defense? How about the fact that the Giants are tied for fourth in the NFL in team sacks with 11? Daniels seems like the quarterback destined for a long, productive career as a superstar. The Commanders better be careful before they change that trajectory altogether.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Jayden Daniels has fallen prey to the RG3 'development' plan
