Dan Quinn almost saw his nightmare scenario become reality when Jayden Daniels went down with an elbow injury against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 14, so the Washington Commanders head coach made a “precautionary” call about his franchise quarterback.
Daniels appeared to re-injure his dislocated elbow after seeing his tipped pass intercepted by Vikings linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel in the third quarter of a 31-0 defeat. Speaking after the game at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday, December 7, Quinn revealed “Daniels could have returned but he wanted to keep him out,” per ESPN’s John Keim, who also quoted the coach admitting “it’s an important development time for him,” when asked about Daniels playing again this season.
Quinn cited “precautionary reasons” for his decision, according to The Washington Post’s Tashan Reed. The use of the word “precautionary” is telling, since taking the risk of letting Daniels return to the field for the final portion of a lost season has been a hot-button topic for Quinn and the Commanders.
Daniels was keen to make a comeback, but the Vikings showed him no mercy. Their elaborate blitzing in front of disguised coverage left Daniels battered and baffled.
His confusion is a strong endorsement for Quinn getting the 24-year-old as much experience as possible this season, even though the Commanders were officially eliminated from the playoffs after events in Minnesota.
Washington’s fall from participating in last season’s NFC Championship Game to 3-10 has been rapid and alarming. Yet, the Commanders’ best chance of returning to contention remains Daniels’ development.
Particularly when key areas across the roster are still vulnerable.
Dan Quinn Made the Right Calls About Jayden Daniels
Quinn was right to bring Daniels back into the starting lineup this week, despite the criticism. Among the critics, Robert Zeglinski of USA Today’s For The Win believes Daniels getting hurt “was so silly. All of this could’ve been avoided.”
While Zeglinski believes the Commanders got what they asked for, they needed Daniels back on the field. He’s still a young player with plenty to learn, and playing against the creatively destructive Vikings defense called by coordinator Brian Flores is probably the best education a pro signal-caller can receive.
Daniels needs to tackle the learning the curve, even though he couldn’t decipher the Flores strategy. His struggles meant Quinn was also right to hold Daniels out once he got hurt after getting picked by Van Ginkel.
The Commanders had no answer for the Viking’ sophisticated pressure packages, so a change at QB made sense in the short-term. Moving forward, keeping their QB1 under wraps every time there’s a risk of injury won’t be a sustainable model for the Commanders.
Nor will continuing to hamper said quarterback with a below-par supporting cast.
Commanders Aren’t Helping Their Quarterback
Quinn has every right to be fuming about the Commanders’ performance on the road, but the roster simply isn’t strong enough to properly support Daniels. His offensive line has been inconsistent at best, while the wide receiver corps still lacks genuine playmaking juice beyond primary target Terry McLaurin.
A bigger problem is Quinn’s defense continues to be soft against the run and overly accommodating to struggling passers. Minnesota signal-caller J.J. McCarthy had been flailing mightily for most of this season, but he was at ease while throwing three touchdown passes against this D’.
There isn’t enough bluechip talent up front, nor on the back end, for the Commanders to stop anybody. It means Daniels is under pressure not only to stay fully healthy, but also to put up enough points to outpace a leaky defense each week.
Greater experience and more quality starters around him are how Daniels can carry the Commanders out of their doldrums. Quinn can’t do anything about the talent levels of the roster the next four weeks, but he can ensure Daniels gets enough playing time to improve.
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