Commanders players push back against potential Jayden Daniels controversy

Shortly after Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels suffered a dislocated left elbow on the last play of the first half of their 37-20 loss to the rival Dallas Cowboys on Sept. 20, a clip showing members of the Washington offensive line walking away from Daniels went viral. 

While speaking with reporters on Wednesday, multiple Commanders players rejected the notion that they abandoned Daniels after his setback. 

Why Commanders players responded how they did to Jayden Daniels injury

"It's bulls--- what people are saying," Commanders left tackle Brandon Coleman said, per John Keim of ESPN. "Jay's our guy, and he's been our guy. There's no malice behind it."

According to Commanders head coach Dan Quinn, Coleman and other Washington players were seemingly instructed to head toward the locker room while Daniels was being attended to on the field. 

"When the half is over, the referees are saying, 'Man, I can't delay the half. They can't stay on the field.' The players were like, 'No, we want to stay.' So it's just the opposite of that," Quinn said about any idea that Daniels' teammates weren't worried about him. "They were gutted. They love this guy. So halftime was hard and emotional in that space." 

Commanders players trying to ignore "nonsense" narratives

Backup quarterback Marcus Mariota will start for the 0-2 Commanders when they host the 2-0 Seattle Seahawks. Washington players such as tight end Ben Sinnott seemed annoyed that they had to answer questions related to the potential Daniels-related controversy while the team is preparing for a matchup against the defending Super Bowl champions.

"All that stuff is ridiculous," Sinnott said. "As far as the love and brotherhood we have for Jayden, it's really strong. We've seen how hard he worked to get to where he's been. It was a weird situation. People were trying to figure out what's going on, and they wanted to give the trainers space to do it. You don't want to crowd the guy. Obviously, guys are taking a step back and giving him space, praying, and we all came back. All that stuff is nonsense."

As of Thursday morning, it remained unclear whether or not Daniels will miss a minimum of four games while on injured reserve. He potentially could return to the lineup in a couple of weeks and play through the injury while wearing a brace.

"That's the franchise right there," Commanders offensive tackle Josh Conerly Jr. added about Daniels. "I definitely felt some type of way about it. For people to say we don't care, it kind of hurts because there's a lot of care. But I don't care what anyone says on the outside. We all care for our quarterback, and we're all behind him on that moment. You can't go off a simple 10-second clip."

On Thursday, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Commanders as seven-point home underdogs against the Seahawks.