Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb were headed for the tunnel at halftime when the scene on the Jumbotron made them stop cold.
Jayden Daniels had just suffered another ugly injury to the same left elbow, and the Cowboys stars turned back to look after seeing the replay. Video that spread afterward caught Prescott saying, “He’s hurt… he’s hurt,” while Lamb stood there taking it in.
The injury came with three seconds left in the first half, with Washington at 1st-and-goal from the Dallas 1 and trailing 17-10. The Commanders had no timeouts left, so they had to keep throwing.
As Daniels dropped back, left guard Chris Paul stepped on his foot. Daniels’ non-throwing left elbow - the same one he dislocated last November against Seattle - bent the wrong way as he tried to brace himself.
He still got the pass away, but it fell incomplete as the half ended. Daniels then stayed down, tried to get to the sideline, went down again and was carted off with a towel over his head. Washington went on to lose 37-20.
Before leaving, Daniels had completed 11 of 17 passes for 96 yards and a touchdown, while also running for 69 yards. Commanders coach Dan Quinn said after the game that X-rays showed a dislocation with no fracture, and further imaging was done Monday. Marcus Mariota came in, threw a touchdown in the second half, and is expected to start until Daniels is healthy again.
The reaction from Prescott and Lamb stood out because of what was happening on the Washington sideline. In the moments after the injury, several Commanders players kept walking while trainers tended to Daniels, and fans quickly noticed the contrast online.
One wrote, “They care more than his own players.” Another said, “These 2 did more then JD5 teammates not names Mariota.”
Others linked Prescott’s response to his own injury experience. “He’s been through the injuries and all the trolling, but at least you know Dak gave a d**n,” one fan wrote, while another added, “Dak’s a good dude - been through his fair share of injuries and trolling.
Gotta respect that he cared.”
Tom Brady had a similar reaction in the Fox booth. Watching the replay live, he blurted out, “Oh [expletive] … excuse me, wasn’t expecting to see that.”
This is the second straight season Daniels has dislocated the same elbow. The first time, late in 2025 against Seattle, cost him about a month and a half.
Quinn didn’t try to soften the moment afterward. “Man, are we bummed for him,” he said.
“I thought he was really playing his ass off. We will rally so hard around Marcus until Jayden’s back.”
He also defended the decision to keep throwing from the 1 instead of taking a field goal. Washington had already used its timeouts while moving the ball and needed touchdowns, not field goals, to keep up with Dallas. The play never had a chance to become a scoring snap because Daniels was hurt before it could unfold.
Prescott, meanwhile, kept rolling. His second touchdown pass of the game to Lamb - who finished with 153 receiving yards - was Prescott’s 249th as a Cowboy, breaking Tony Romo’s franchise record of 248.
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