Ten months ago, the Commanders were celebrating an upset win over the Lions in the Divisional Round of the playoffs and preparing to face the Eagles for a chance at a Super Bowl berth all on the arm and legs of a rookie quarterback. Fast forward to today, and Washington’s season has gone anything but according to plan. As second-year passer Jayden Daniels continues to work his way back from his third injury of the season, the surprising position the team finds themselves in could dictate the grounds for his return. 
A week ago, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN passed on rumors that the Commanders were preparing for a potential five- to six-week absence for Daniels, despite other reports estimating a mere three weeks of recovery. The potential for a longer than expected recovery combined with a loss to the Dolphins in Madrid had Fowler speculating about a situation in which Daniels doesn’t play again this year.
A week later, that loss to Miami has actualized, and Washington, as a result, now faces a week of reflection and decision-making. Fellow ESPN reporter Dan Graziano noted today that the Commanders will take this Week 12 bye week to “examine everything” and acknowledged that “external debates” have taken place concerning the reasonableness of Daniels not returning this year, but ultimately, he asserted that he’s been told “the plan in Washington is still that Daniels will return to the starting lineup once doctors clear him from his elbow injury.”
While Fowler didn’t dispel the notion of that being the Commanders’ plan, he maintained that his sources have Daniels possibly being back for Week 13, though “the team has loosely braced for an absence of five to six weeks, just in case.” No teams have been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs yet, but if this turns into a six-week absence and the team’s six-game losing streak continues, Washington could find itself well out of playoff contention with three games left on the schedule against division-rivals who could be playing for postseason positioning.
If the Commanders are sitting at 3-11 with games left against the Eagles, Cowboys, and Eagles, again, sending Daniels out with nothing on the line feels borderline irresponsible. Considering that Daniels has sustained three different injuries this year, testing his durability with nothing to play for could obviously do more harm than good. Graziano, though, points out that Daniels is likely advocating to get back on the field and, because this latest injury was not related to his legs or his throwing arm, the team may not be as cautious with their approach to his return.
They’ll have the rest of the week to consider all of this before they have to start game-planning for a Week 13 game against the Broncos. If Daniels is good to for the matchup with Denver, the chances of reinjury may be a bit higher against a defense that has a 15-sack lead on the second-best sack-getting team in the NFL.
They should, they’ll have maybe 4 wins when he comes back. Him getting banged up some more won’t help develop him.
Would be the smart thing to do. Team isn’t going anywhere this season with or without him.
His game and most importantly his body given his game probably won’t last in the NFL….the big guys just are going to continue to beat this kid up to the point that it will affect his game….saw this coming when last year he ran wild making defenses look silly….those big guys have memories and when they get the chance have and will inflict pain on him when they get the chance…which given his RPO game might be often…..