The Washington Commanders have been having one hell of a season. They’ve been dominant right from the start of their campaign, sitting pretty at 5-2 for now. There are concerns their momentum might start to slow down. After their game against the Panthers last Sunday, you’d think they’d be holding their heads high in the aftermath of the 40-7 win. Sadly, the game also saw the injury of their star quarterback, Jayden Daniels.

Daniels suffered a rib injury in the first quarter of the Panthers game. He has since skipped practice on Wednesday and Thursday, though he was seen at practice today. Expert commentators like Mike Florio and Rodney Harrison have, however, recommended he rest before coming back to the game, though fans would have hoped to see him play against the Bears this Sunday.

A rib injury is particularly bad for a quarterback, with the amount of throwing involved. The fact he runs as much with the ball as he does leaves him vulnerable to further injury too. He’s had 4 rushing touchdowns over his 7 games, compared to 6 touchdown passes. The 372 rushing yards are impressive too, when you consider the fact he’s been throwing more than 200 yards a game on average (despite the fact he basically didn’t play against the Panthers). That’s the kind of player you want to keep safe and get the most out of later in the season.

Daniels’ injury set the stage for veteran quarterback Marcus Mariota to step up. The 30-year-old Hawaii native has played a grand total of 5 games over the last two years. But that didn’t keep him from clicking just right last Sunday against the Panthers. He threw for an impressive 205 yards with two touchdown passes and led the team to their mammoth win. So is it worth pushing Jayden Daniels to an early comeback this week?

Dan Quinn Announces Jayden Daniels’ Return After QB Practiced

The Chicago Bears have been having an unusually successful season so far at 4-2. Well, the same could be said of the Washington Commanders, but enough about that. At the end of the day, this is a game both teams are desperate to win.

The Bears have the misfortune of sitting in NFC North, where they’re somehow the only team that hasn’t won 5 games. The Vikings, Lions, and Packers have all been killing it this season, there’s no denying it. They’ll need every win they can get to claw their way up. But then there’s the Commanders, who do sit at the top of NFC East, but the Eagles are snapping at their heels at 4-2, and they’ll be looking to secure their lead.

With a must-win game on the line, surely you want your best player on the squad, right? After he was seen at practice, coach Dan Quinn said of Daniels, “We will assess how he responds to the work that we did over the next 48 hours. But we really pushed it today.” Sure, playing Jayden Daniels might seem like a tempting idea, but it’s simply too easy to aggravate that rib injury. That’ll only mean he’ll have to take an even longer break to recover from that, when a 1 week break at the moment might be all he needs presently.

You only need to look at the Bucs’ Mike Evans, brought back from a hamstring injury prematurely. The poor man ended up doubled over in pain on the field last Monday, and now he’s out for another 4 weeks. What Jayden Daniels needs now is rest, and a team management that will give him recovery time. Here’s hoping the Commanders have an excellent season.