Commanders Dismiss Criticism They Abandoned Jayden Daniels After Injury

The Commanders are pushing back against the narrative that the team abandoned quarterback Jayden Daniels on the field after he dislocated his elbow in Sunday’s loss to the Cowboys.

Daniels went down on the final play of the first half after tripping over offensive lineman Chris Paul and planting his hand on the ground while trying to catch his fall. A brief clip of the Fox broadcast showed Commanders players walking by Daniels as the team’s medical staff attended to him.

The clip received little fanfare at the time, but drew comparisons after Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart injured his knee against the Rams on Monday night and had the whole team around him shortly after.

“It’s bullshit what people are saying,” Commanders left tackle Brandon Coleman told reporters Wednesday. “Jay’s our guy and he’s been our guy.”

Commanders coach Dan Quinn clarified that players wanted to stay and support Daniels, but because the play happened right before halftime, they had to head to the locker room or risk losing time for their break.

“When the half is over, the referees are saying, ‘Man, I can’t delay the half. They can’t stay on the field.’ The players were like, ‘No, we want to stay,’” Quinn said. “So it’s just the opposite of that. They were gutted. They love this guy. So halftime was hard and emotional in that space.”

Multiple players stood around Daniels in the immediate aftermath of his injury before heading to the locker room. Players said Wednesday that both Quinn and officials told players to clear the sideline after lingering in support of Daniels.

“We stayed on the field, and once they got it situated and did what they had to do we checked on him,” Coleman said. “Dan told most [players] to go into the locker room. But it’s tough to go in when you see something like that. You see the whole starting line out there, a bunch of receivers, some defensive guys.”

Daniels is out for Sunday’s game against the Seahawks and is currently seeking other opinions on his elbow, according to Quinn. Backup Marcus Mariota will start in his place.