Commanders shut down quarterback Jayden Daniels; Eagles will face Marcus Mariota on Saturday
Mariota, who threw 23 passes as a member of the Eagles in 2023, is on tap to start Saturday.
The Eagles won’t face Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels on Saturday in Landover, Md.
Daniels is being shut down for the Commanders’ final three games of the season, coach Dan Quinn announced Monday. Daniels missed Washington’s game Sunday after reinjuring his left elbow last week during a 31-0 loss to Minnesota. It was the same elbow he injured on Nov. 2 vs. Seattle.
With Daniels out, the Commanders (4-10) will continue to start Marcus Mariota, who led Washington to a 29-21 victory over the Giants on Sunday. It was the Commanders’ first win since Oct. 5. Mariota went 10-for-19 for 211 yards and a touchdown. He also lost a fumble. The Commanders got one of their three touchdowns on a 63-yard punt return.
The Eagles and Commanders play twice in the final three weeks of the regular season.
Daniels’ second NFL season will end after he appeared in just seven games. The offensive rookie of the year in 2024 also missed time this season with knee and hamstring injuries.
Injuries have been a big part of Washington’s decline in 2025 after the Commanders reached the NFC championship game last season. It’s easy to point to Daniels’ availability as a reason for the decline, but the Commanders were just 2-5 in games in which Daniels played.
The Commanders were a prime candidate for regression in 2024 for a few reasons. ESPN shared the snap-weighted average age of every NFL team on Monday, and the Commanders are the oldest team in the NFL overall and have the oldest defense in the league (28.9 years old). Age is one part of the poor performance this season, but the Commanders also were abnormally lucky in 2024. The luck also included a low number of injuries.
That has changed in a big way in 2025, and the age of the team may have caught up to the Commanders.
Daniels aside — the quarterback turns 25 this week — the Commanders’ season has been marred by injuries to older players by NFL standards.
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Washington’s defense alone has three players age 28 or older on injured reserve: defensive end Dorance Armstrong (28), cornerback Marshon Lattimore (29), and defensive end Deatrich Wise Jr. (31).
Additionally, 33-year-old defensive end Preston Smith has been limited to 10 games, 32-year-old corner Jonathan Jones has played in nine games, 28-year-old defensive end Jalyn Holmes has eight appearances, and 29-year-old safety Will Harris has played in six games.
Veterans Von Miller (36) and Bobby Wagner (35) have stayed healthy, but asking the two of them to anchor a defense at this stage of their careers is not ideal.
Only one team, Cincinnati, allows more yards per game than Washington (382.6).
Then there’s the offense. The latest major injury to the Commanders hit former Eagles tight end Zach Ertz, whose season ended last week after he suffered a torn ACL. But 30-year-old receiver Terry McLaurin, who held out in camp and was later signed to a three-year, $96 million extension, has been limited to seven games, and 29-year-old receiver Noah Brown has played in four. Running back Austin Ekeler, who is 30, was lost to a season-ending injury in Week 2.
A nightmare season is almost over for the Commanders, and they made the choice to not subject Daniels to any more meaningless football games.