Daniels leaves Commanders’ game against Panthers with rib injury

LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Jayden Daniels will undergo further tests Monday after leaving the Washington Commanders’ game against the Carolina Panthers with a rib injury, coach Dan Quinn said, repeatedly adding he had no further update on the rookie quarterback’s status.

“I can not give you an update on Jayden, but I will just as soon as we find out,” Quinn said Sunday after Daniels was injured early in his team’s 40-7 win. “I’ll give you some updates just as soon as I find out tomorrow, but I do not have any tonight.”

Daniels’ mother, Regina Jackson, posted on social media the simple message, “He’s fine.” Part owner Magic Johnson posted he’s “praying that Jayden Daniels’ injury is not serious!”

Seven games into what is turning into a season with playoff aspirations, the Commanders are 5-2 but so far have no clarity about Daniels.

“Obviously, it’s going to take some time or whatever it is,” said veteran Marcus Mariota, who replaced Daniels and threw for two touchdown passes and 205 yards. “We have no idea. But I think he was in good spirits, and for the most part you just check on him, how he’s doing and we’ll take it day to day.”

Daniels, who ran for 46 yards on the Commanders’ first offensive snap, took multiple hits on their opening drive — including a head-over-feet tumble on that play. It was not clear exactly when he was injured, with Quinn only sure it happened on that drive.

The No. 2 pick out of LSU and 2023 Heisman Trophy winner appeared to be in pain when leaving the field following a third-down completion before Austin Seibert’s field goal that gave Washington a 10-0 lead. He initially went to the bench but relocated to the blue medical tent for evaluation.

After Andy Dalton’s second interception of the first quarter, Daniels left the tent and went back onto the field to throw a few passes. He returned to the sideline and slammed his helmet to the turf before returning to the tent, and Mariota took control of the offense.

“When you see him go down, that’s tough for us,” top receiver Terry McLaurin said. “Marcus did a great job coming in.”

Towel in hand, Daniels then walked off the sideline and down the tunnel to the locker room.

“We warmed him up, he threw some, we took him to the tent and the next step was, ‘We’re going to take you inside and get images there,’” Quinn said. “And he’ll do some more images tomorrow.”

With Washington up 27-0 at halftime, Daniels returned to the sideline in the third quarter wearing sweatpants and a hoodie, and the team ruled him out soon after. He spent the remainder of the game chatting with teammates on the bench.

“We won’t put (Daniels) or any other guys into a space where they could jeopardize something,” Quinn said. “I don’t have any information medically, so please don’t speculate on that.”

Daniels came into the game as the favorite to win offensive rookie of the year honors. He threw for 1,404 yards, ran for 322 and was responsible for 10 TDs in his first six games.

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