The Washington Commanders' 2025 season has gone from hopeful to heartbreaking - and Sunday’s 31-0 loss to the Minnesota Vikings might have been the lowest point yet.
A year removed from a run to the NFC Championship Game, Washington now sits at 3-10, their playoff hopes long since extinguished. But the scoreboard wasn’t the only gut punch. The bigger concern came when franchise quarterback Jayden Daniels, freshly returned from a serious arm injury, went down again - this time with what appeared to be another joint issue.
Daniels had already defied expectations just by suiting up this week. The injury he suffered earlier in the year looked season-ending at the time.
Instead, the Commanders worked him back into action, hoping to spark something in a season that had slipped away. But on Sunday, any spark was quickly extinguished.
Medical experts watching the game noted that while it wasn’t clear if Daniels suffered a full re-dislocation, the nature of the injury - and the fact that it came so soon after his return - raises red flags. It doesn’t take much force to aggravate a recently dislocated joint, and Daniels’ reaction on the field said it all. He did not return, and Marcus Mariota took over under center for the remainder of the game.
Now the conversation shifts from “when will Daniels be back?” to “should he play again this season at all?” And the answer feels more obvious by the hour.
The Commanders have four games left and zero shot at the postseason. There’s nothing left to prove in 2025 - not for Daniels, and not for a team that’s clearly in evaluation mode.
The priority now has to be protecting the future, and Daniels is that future. Risking further injury in a meaningless stretch run would be a mistake with long-term consequences.
Commanders fans don’t need a history lesson, but they’re getting one anyway. The parallels to Robert Griffin III are impossible to ignore.
RG3 was electric in 2012 - just like Daniels was last season when he won Offensive Rookie of the Year. But Griffin’s trajectory changed forever after a playoff injury that many still believe was avoidable.
He never regained that magic, and Washington spent the next decade searching for a replacement.
Now, a decade later, they may have finally found that replacement in Daniels. But the same cautionary tale is playing out again, and even Griffin himself has weighed in, urging the team not to make the same mistake twice.
Head coach Dan Quinn is facing a critical decision. He’s long been respected around the league for his leadership and defensive acumen, but this moment is about more than Xs and Os.
It’s about protecting your franchise cornerstone. If Daniels plays again this year and suffers another setback, it won’t just be a blow to the player - it could be a defining misstep for the coaching staff and front office.
Mariota, a seasoned veteran, has shown he can manage the offense in a backup role. He’s not going to light up the scoreboard, but he can keep things steady while the team regroups and starts building toward 2026. That’s the only sensible path forward.
For a franchise that’s spent years trying to climb out of the NFL’s basement, the margin for error is razor-thin. Daniels is the kind of talent you build around - but only if he’s healthy enough to stay on the field.
The Commanders already lost this season. They can’t afford to lose their future, too.