Dan Quinn explains why it's important Jayden Daniels returns

Since quarterback Jayden Daniels dislocated his elbow in a Week 9 blowout loss to the Seattle Seahawks, there has been a debate over whether the Washington Commanders should shut him down for the remainder of the season.

It wouldn't be a debate if Daniels hadn't suffered three separate injuries in 2025. However, none of the injuries were severe, and none were connected. Daniels suffered a sprained knee in Week 2 and missed two games. He strained a hamstring in Week 7 and missed one game. After dislocating his elbow — which looked more severe than it ended up being — he missed two more games and is expected to miss Sunday's game against the Denver Broncos.

So, arguments for sitting Daniels make some sense, considering Washington is 3-8 with almost no shot at the playoffs. Injuries have decimated the Commanders this season.

However, the arguments for Daniels to return when healthy are more compelling. Ex-Washington coach Jay Gruden didn't hesitate when saying Daniels should be back in the lineup.

"I want to show the world that this guy is back," expressed Gruden in an appearance on "Grant and Danny" of 106.7 The Fan earlier this month. "You know, I'm tired of the narrative, 'He's too little. He's going to get injured all of the time.' I want to have a great last two games of the season. I want to win both games and put the NFC East on a warning track for the Washington Commanders, come next year, when he's fully healthy for 17 games."

Gruden makes great points here.

And there's also the fact that Daniels is only a second-year quarterback. He's a second-year quarterback who hasn't played much this season due to injuries. Reps matter, even in a losing effort. Head coach Dan Quinn agrees.

"I think it's important as Jayden's getting good going, learning to play like this position at the highest level competitively, also doing it safely, and those are reps, you know, that you develop as well," Quinn said Monday. "It's a skill just like throwing and processing. And so, all those things are important."

Did the Commanders ever consider shutting Daniels down? It sure doesn't like it.

"That's not something we really discussed internally. The first part for us, honestly, was how are we going to get the player better and let's dig in on that first, not knowing the exact timeframe. So, that's really where the focus was right away and right off the bat. We knew we had the bye coming and then we'd have a chance to regroup and huddle up and kind of push from there."

We stated our case. If Daniels is healthy, he should play. The offensive line is healthy. And the receivers, including Terry McLaurin, are getting healthier. So, if Daniels does return in Week 14, those final five weeks could be a critical part of his development.

This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Washington Commanders: Jayden Daniels needs reps in 2025