Jayden Daniels is looking to prove his health to potentially participate in Week 8 against the Chicago Bears. The quarterback's status for his highly anticipated showdown with No. 1 pick Caleb Williams is in serious doubt. What transpires over the next few days will ultimately determine his fate.
Daniels suffered a rib injury on his opening drive against the Carolina Panthers. It was one of two blemishes on another dominant performance from the Washington Commanders, which moved them to an impressive 5-2 through seven weeks of the campaign. Rookie third-round left tackle Brandon Coleman's concussion was the other.
Head coach Dan Quinn hasn't ruled out either from taking the field at Northwest Stadium this weekend versus a Bears team coming off their bye week and harboring hopes of postseason football themselves. The Commanders listed Daniels as week-to-week without ruling him out entirely. He also took an expected first step on Wednesday, not seeing the practice field as veteran backup Marcus Mariota took first-team reps.
Daniels spent time getting treatment and going through meetings with the coaching staff instead. If that was anticipated, fans were eagerly awaiting how the Heisman Trophy out of LSU would fare during Thursday's developments. This is typically much more telling of a player's hopes.
Commanders plan to get Jayden Daniels involved on Friday
According to Nicki Jhabvala from the Washington Post, the rookie was not on the field for the portion of practice open to the media on Thursday. It would provide some comfort to fans if the quarterback was out there at some stage this week, but this could be a setback.
Jayden Daniels is not on the field during the media viewing portion of practice.
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) October 24, 2024
Adam Schefter from ESPN provided additional information regarding Daniels. The senior insider - who is more clued in than most - revealed that the Commanders plan to give the signal-caller a chance to practice on Friday. This is a make-or-break situation that could ultimately determine his status for Week 8.
Washington plans to attempt to try to practice Jayden Daniels on Friday. https://t.co/GSyqF77uyD
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 24, 2024
This will be the big moment. If Daniels practices and comes out of it feeling right, that might be enough for the Commanders to give him the green light. If not, then the chances of being ruled out on Friday's injury report are high.
It could still go either way. Nobody is getting ahead of themselves. The Commanders are erring on the side of caution and considering everything before making a decision. If they don't have 100 percent conviction despite Daniels' hard work throughout the week, they'll roll with Mariota.
All eyes on Friday.