Dan Quinn confirmed what Commanders fans feared about Jayden Daniels

The Washington Commanders managed a comfortable win over the Las Vegas Raiders without Jayden Daniels in Week 3. However, if this team wants to embark on another deep postseason run, they'll need their star quarterback to be fit and firing on all cylinders.

Daniels is suffering from a knee sprain sustained against the Green Bay Packers. The Commanders played it safe with their franchise player, avoiding the risk of additional damage by keeping him out of the firing line at Northwest Stadium.

It's not expected to be a long-term issue. Even so, anybody expecting Daniels to be back in the lineup this weekend against the Atlanta Falcons might be out of luck.

Commanders are taking things gradually with Jayden Daniels' injury recovery

Dan Quinn confirmed that Daniels is still day-to-day with his knee complication. The head coach also revealed that they are taking things step by step, potentially ramping up his workload as the week goes on before coming to a final decision.

We're still listing to this day to day. And then as we get into Wednesday, I'll be more qualified to hit us on what types of practice and what we can hit on to go. So he went through some things today, some more tomorrow, and that'll lead us up into Wednesday. But when we get together prior to practice, I'll have a better idea for the plan. We've not nailed that down for the week as yet.Dan Quinn via Sportskeeda

This confirmed what fans feared. Daniels getting back into the lineup might be a more gradual process than initially feared. But make no mistake, the Commanders have the correct process in place regarding his recovery.

The Commanders got some solid production from veteran backup Marcus Mariota. He was efficient, protected the football (aside from one fumble), and made smart decisions. Washington's offense didn't need him to be a hero, but he managed the game exceptionally well to ensure complications were kept to a minimum.

If Daniels needs another week, so be it. That wouldn't be ideal, especially considering the Falcons will be looking to avenge their overtime defeat to Washington last year after getting shut out by the Carolina Panthers. Still, keeping the bigger picture in mind here is crucial.

Things should become clearer in the coming days. The Commanders are a much more explosive offense with Daniels leading the charge. At the same time, they have a more than capable understudy in Mariota, who once again showcased why he's among the league's best backup quarterbacks.

It's a wait-and-see scenario, but Quinn's comments suggest that Daniels' participation in Week 4 could go either way unless specific targets are hit.