Jayden Daniels made his return from an elbow injury in Week 14 for the Washington Commanders. He was unable to complete the game after being removed for aggravating the same injury that kept him out for four weeks. Here’s the latest on superstar’s potential availability as Week 15 approaches.
Will Jayden Daniels Play in Week 15?
Daniels has been having a frustrating 2025 NFL season plagued by injuries. He suffered a devastating elbow injury on his his non-throwing left arm in Week 9 against the Seattle Seahawks. He made his return against the Minnesota Vikings last week, but was forced out of the game after landing on his injured elbow.
Commanders head coach Dan Quinn gave an update on where Daniels currently stands after being evaluated by the medical staff. He also laid out their plan on whether or not he will be available to play in Week 15 against the New York Giants.
“It’s sore and the doctors evaluated him today … The good news for that, there’s no long-term concerns, but we’ll continue to monitor and kind of take everything into account as the week goes,” explained Quinn.
There has been speculation that the Commanders may shut down their star quarterback for the rest of the season and allow him to recover fully. They have lost each of their past eight games to drop to a 3-10 record, so they don’t really have much to play for at this point.
It would seem logical to avoid risking his health any further with playoffs out of their reach, but that doesn’t sound like Quinn’s plan for Daniels at all.
He instead insisted that they would continue to evaluate him throughout the week and make a later determination as to whether he would be available to play against the Giants. This implies that if he gains medical clearance and wants to play, he will have an opportunity to do so.
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If Daniels is unable to play this week, Marcus Mariota is likely to get another start in his absence. He has done a decent job filling in this year, and currently ranks 15th among all quarterbacks in PFSN’s Impact Rankings.
Daniels currently ranks 21st on the same list, but his limited action is one of the primary reasons. In his rookie season, he ranked 5th among all quarterbacks over the course of the entire year and even helped the Commanders reach the NFC Championship game. His future remains bright, but he will first need to overcome a frustrating second season.

