On Sunday Night Football in Week 13, the Jayden Daniels-less Washington Commanders played the Denver Broncos and lost in overtime, 27-26.
Since Daniel’s gruesome elbow injury, the Commanders have relied on Marcus Mariota at quarterback. Regarding Week 14, NFL insider Adam Schefter dropped a piece of news that will have Commanders fans rejoicing and Minnesota Vikings fans sulking.
Jayden Daniels Trending Up To Play Week 14
Daniels’ last played on Nov. 2 against the Seattle Seahawks. In the game, he was still playing in garbage time when every head coach’s worst nightmare unfolded: an injury in the fourth quarter of a blowout that easily could’ve been avoided.
The elbow injury was gruesome and gut-wrenching, and most fans figured both Daniels’ — — and by extension, the team’s — seasons were over.
They were wrong.
Today, Adam Schefter tweeted the following:
“Commanders upgraded QB Jayden Daniels to a full participant at today’s practice. He is trending in the right direction to start Sunday at Minnesota.”
Commanders upgraded QB Jayden Daniels to a full participant at today’s practice.
He is trending in the right direction to start Sunday at Minnesota.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 4, 2025
After being a limited participant last week and for one day this week, Daniels finally logged his first full practice since suffering the injury. While it isn’t certain Daniels will play this week, he certainly appears to have a good chance, especially if he’s a full participant again Friday.
The Commanders sit at a 3-9 record, which is third in the NFC East; surprisingly, they haven’t been eliminated from playoff contention yet. Mariota has been serviceable but still lacking at times as a backup option, throwing for 1,359 yards, nine touchdowns, and six interceptions on a 63.2% completion rate.
Despite Mariota’s experience and solid performances at times, Daniels has the explosiveness to make the offense a more formidable threat in all aspects.
In six games before his injury, Daniels completed 62.5% of passes for 1,184 yards, eight touchdowns, and two interceptions. Additionally, he rushed for 262 yards and two touchdowns on 54 attempts.
One of his best performances this season was in Week 5 against the Los Angeles Chargers. In PFSN’s QBi, he ranked fifth with 231 passing yards, one passing touchdown, and 39 rushing yards in eight attempts.
He will have a challenging task ahead of him, assuming he plays this week against the Vikings. While Minnesota is 4-8, their defense doesn’t shoulder much blame. In PFSN’s DEFi leaderboard, the Vikings rank sixth in the league with an impact score of 82.3 and a letter grade of B-.
