Quarterback Jayden Daniels will miss “a while” because of the dislocated left elbow he suffered in the Commanders’ blowout loss to the Seahawks on Sunday night, according to coach Dan Quinn. But how much time has yet to be determined.
In a positive sign for the quarterback’s future, he did not endure any fractured bones with the injury to his non-throwing arm, Quinn said, which should reduce his healing time. It’s possible the team will place Daniels on injured reserve, which would keep him out until at least Week 15. The timetable for his return — if there is one this season — could also be decided in part by the state of the team.
The Commanders are 3-6. They face Detroit’s third-ranked scoring offense next weekend, will spend the following week in Madrid before a game against the Dolphins and then have their bye before facing a gauntlet of divisional games. The likelihood they make the postseason is minimal, at best, and they could officially be out of contention by the time Daniels is cleared.
Quinn opened his usual Monday call with reporters by addressing the most significant question: Why, in garbage minutes of a blowout loss, was Daniels even in the game?
When asked on Sunday night if he considered having backup Marcus Mariota finish out the game, Quinn said no, in part because “the hindsight, you don’t want to think that way, where an injury could take place.” He added that the offense was playing more conservatively at that point, trailing 31-7, with read-run plays, or no carries for a quarterback.
But after much consideration, Quinn had changed his mind by Monday.
“Honestly, man, that’s where I missed it,” he said. “Of course he could scramble. It’s Jayden. That’s what he’s special at, and 100 percent that’s on me.”
He continued: “That’s what I think about all night and nonstop. When you have chances and you look back and say, ‘Man, how do you do this differently so this doesn’t happen?’ Twelve and a half minutes (on the clock when that drive started). I thought, ‘OK, this is the last drive for (the offensive starters).”
That last drive turned out to be one drive too many.
And for two more of Daniels’ teammates, their season is now done.
An MRI taken Monday confirmed veteran cornerback Marshon Lattimore tore his ACL and he will be out the remainder of the season. Lattimore was injured early in the third quarter against Seattle after breaking up a pass and landing awkwardly out of bounds.
Wide receiver/kick returner Luke McCaffrey will also be sidelined the rest of the way because of a broken collarbone that he suffered on the opening kick Sunday night. McCaffrey landed on his left shoulder after a 19-yard return and was ruled out for the remainder of the game.
As for the team at-large, Quinn said, more review is leading to more changes.
“That fix needs to be done, and it needs to be done now,” Quinn said Monday, doubling-down on comments he made after the game.
The fixes won’t include staff changes at this point, Quinn said. But they will include a change for defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. Instead of calling plays from the coaches’ booth, he will move to the sideline, starting Sunday when the Commanders host the Lions.
“It’s players, it’s coaches, it’s all of us, man,” Quinn said. “And we’re capable of playing these calls and playing them better, and I’m certain of it. My belief in the players is high and (in) the staff is high. We’ve got to get this job done.”
But doing so without their leader, Daniels, will make a tough road even tougher.
Quinn said the team is still awaiting some details about his injury before determining his timetable.
Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels could still return this season after dislocating his left elbow. (Amber Searls / Imagn Images)
That Daniels didn’t suffer a fracture is promising news for his near- and long-term recovery.
According to Dr. Carlos Uquillas, an orthopedic surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Orthopaedics in Los Angeles and a team physician for the Los Angeles Angels, a complex dislocation, with a fracture, can sometimes require surgery to repair. But a simple dislocation, without any fractures, typically does not require surgery, unless the joint is especially unstable.
(Uquillas did not treat any of the Commanders’ players who were injured Sunday night.)
Once the joint is mobilized, patients with simple dislocations can typically start moving the elbow in a range of motion that keeps it stable, usually after about a week, Uquillas said.
“Once you start getting better motion and better reduction of swelling and pain, you can start strengthening,” he added. “Usually that’s three, four weeks out from the injury. It could be sooner depending on how fast you heal the acute injury part of it. And then getting your strength back and ability to protect yourself since it’s a non-throwing arm, back to football, sometimes it’s as quick as three weeks and sometimes is six weeks. But it kind of depends more on function than anything else.”
A 2021 study on the management of elbow dislocations among NFL players found that the injury generally has a low rate of occurrence but can cause substantial trauma. The good news: The majority of players who sustained elbow dislocations successfully returned after about five weeks, with or without surgery.
The study used the NFL Injury Surveillance System from 2000-14 (15 seasons) and found 82 total elbow dislocations in that span. Those who reported having surgery missed, on average, 73.8 days, from the time of injury to clearance for full activity. Those who did not report surgery missed an average of 36.1 days, or roughly five weeks.
A similar study published in the Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine in 2018 examined NFL injury data from 2000-11 and found even more promising results. Sixty-two elbow dislocations were reported, and the players who were treated conservatively returned to full activity in 25.1 days on average. Those who underwent surgery returned in an average of 46.5 days.
The outlook is less promising for Lattimore and McCaffrey. The typical recovery for ACL tears is around eight months, depending on the individual. McCaffrey faces a months-long recovery as well.
Dan Quinn said it was “100% on me” that Jayden Daniels was still in the game. pic.twitter.com/bmsnloTUIm
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) November 3, 2025
“If it’s non-surgical, it involves a period of sling immobilization, just to kind of help protect the arm,” Uquillas said of collarbone breaks. “Usually, you get a good amount of healing in the first six weeks, but (going) back to contact sports can be as much as three months. So, it’s a slower process. Bone takes longer to heal. And until it’s fully formed and stable, he has a high risk of re-injury, or re-fracture, so you want to wait until it starts really being solid.”
The Commanders’ roster has changed weekly because of a slew of injuries, many of which have affected starters or key reserves.
Since the start of the regular season, 17 players have suffered injuries that have or will cost them time. Of those players, 11 were starters at the time of their injuries. So far, the team’s total missed games to injuries is 59 — and counting.
Receiver Terry McLaurin has missed five of those games and is expected to miss a sixth on Sunday because of his lingering quad injury, Quinn said.
Lattimore and McCaffrey are likely headed to injured reserve, which will free up a couple of roster spots. But Quinn said the Commanders do not plan to add another quarterback while Daniels is recovering. Mariota will start and Josh Johnson will be the backup.
But more changes could be coming.
“We’ve got to come up with better solutions, better things that we need to do to play at our best,” Quinn said. “Everybody’s upset, frustrated, mad, all the emotions that you would think and how do we channel that to play better and to find things, because what we’re currently doing isn’t hitting the marks, and so we don’t want to stay doing that. So, here’s the adjustments and the changes that we’ll make, whether that’s personnel, moving around coaches, honestly, we’re ready to dig in and find any answer that can take us to that spot.”