Jayden Daniels, Terry McLaurin Out vs. Falcons With Injuries, Marcus Mariota to be QB1

Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels will miss his second consecutive game due to a knee injury.

The team announced on Friday that Daniels will be out for Sunday's game against the Atlanta Falcons and Marcus Mariota is going to get the start once again.

Head coach Dan Quinn also said Terry McLaurin won't play against the Falcons due to his quad injury and his status will be "week to week" going forward.

Daniels already missed the Commanders' Week 3 game against the Las Vegas Raiders due to a sprained knee. He originally suffered the injury on Sept. 11 in a loss to the Green Bay Packers.

Quinn told reporters prior to the Raiders game that Daniels was progressing, but his knee wasn't healthy enough for them to feel comfortable putting him on the field.

Per NFL Network's Mike Garafolo, there's no concern that McLaurin will need surgery, but there is no definite timeline for his return.

Mariota started in Daniels' absence for the Raiders game. It was his first start since Week 13 of the 2022 season with the Falcons. He finished 15-of-21 for 207 yards and one touchdown in a 41-24 win over Las Vegas.

Per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, Daniels "wasn't even close" to playing against the Raiders. That did cause concern about his potential availability for Week 4.

An extended absence for Daniels will cause all sorts of issues for the Commanders. Mariota has proven himself to be a capable backup when called into action, but there's a limit to his offensive ceiling.

Daniels was a big-play machine in his rookie season and the club was counting on that to continue in 2025. The Commanders were still in the process of fleshing out what this offensive unit would look like after adding Deebo Samuel and Laremy Tunsil in the offseason prior to Daniels' injury.

Washington will look to tread water and stay competitive in the NFC East until Daniels and McLaurin are able to return.