Sophomore Slump Evolves into a Terrible Injury

Last year seemed incredible for the Washington Commanders. They gave Jayden Daniels, a 2025 rookie, a chance to turn the offensive line into something dangerous. And man, did he. For the first time in 33 years, he brought the Commanders to the NFC Championship game. So I had high hopes for this team in the 2025 season, considering that they also traded Deebo Samuel from the Forty Niners, and yes, even though he’s a bit older, I still knew that he was a good player and that he might boost their offense even more. My hopes were put in the wrong place.

Sophomore slump hit Daniels early into the season and hard. The Washington Commanders went from stars to having a worse record than the Panthers. SNF this last week was glaring proof of that. The Seahawks dominated, destroying nearly every scoring attempt that the Commanders had. Going into the fourth quarter, they trailed 7-38. At this point, take out your star players, put in the backups, and admit defeat. But Dan Quinn (Washington head coach) chose not to, and with 7 minutes and 39 seconds remaining in the blowout, the worst case possible happened. Daniel went down.

As Drake Thomas sacked Daniels, his left arm was bent backwards at an awkward angle, causing immediate pain for the second year player. Later, it was determined that it was a dislocated elbow. An MRI confirmed that the injury did not involve ligament damage or fractures, which is a positive sign for his recovery. Thankfully, he will not require surgery either. Daniels was not placed on injured reserve, which means he will be back on the roster for the team’s upcoming games, though he will be inactive for now. Placing him on injured reserve would have automatically sidelined him for at least four games.

The team will re-evaluate his status after the Week 12 bye, and so all Commanders fans and players alike have their fingers crossed. But it still is a possibility that he’s out for the season, which would only add to the fact that Luke McCaffery is out for the season with a broken collarbone. Marcus Mariota will take the field as a starter again, having to face down the Lion’s defensive line on Sunday.

See you at the next snap,

Tatum