The Commanders are putting a beating on the Giants, up 22-7 at halftime, but the mood around Washington’s franchise quarterback is still anything but calm. Across the league, people are wondering what exactly the plan is with Jayden Daniels after a second season marked by flashes of star power and a growing stack of injuries.
ESPN’s Dan Graziano reported that some voices inside the NFL are questioning whether Washington should shut him down in a lost year and rethink how much punishment he’s taking in this offense.
Nicki Jhabvala noted on X that veteran pass rusher Von Miller quietly hit a massive milestone Sunday, logging his seventh sack of the season to reach 136.5 for his career, moving to No. 12 on the all-time list (since sacks became official in 1982) and passing Jared Allen in the process.
Graziano pointed to multiple red flags: the re-aggravated left elbow that already cost Daniels games, the tempo and volume of plays Washington is asking him to run, and the number of designed carries that leave a lean quarterback exposed on early downs.
Even with the Commanders dialing back their play count from last year, the offense has been less efficient, which means more time chasing games and more hits on their most important player.
Jhabvala’s reporting in The Athletic added further context, detailing how Daniels has piled up a knee sprain, hamstring issue, and that troublesome elbow, while also scrambling more because receivers are not consistently winning and the backfield has lacked stability.
Internally, coaches have talked about technique on slides and dives, but the broader question is whether they’re giving him enough help to avoid these situations in the first place.
So while Miller climbs the record books and Washington cruises early against New York, the bigger storyline is still about durability and direction: how long the Commanders can keep asking Daniels to play this way before something has to change.
