Mina Kimes’ concern for Jayden Daniels isn’t the injury, ‘they have to protect him from himself…’

Jayden Daniels’ knee injury could be a problem, but it points to a much larger issue for the quarterback

Jayden Daniels believes the Commanders will bounce back from their loss against the Green Bay Packers, but first has to battle an injury to make sure he’s out on the field.

The second-year QB is one of the fastest-growing phenomenons in the NFL. His surge to greatness as a rookie quarterback was nothing short of exceptional, helping the Commanders reach the NFC Championship on the back of an incredible season.

This year, the Commanders have loaded up their roster with ambitions of making the Super Bowl, surrounding Daniels with as much talent as they can to push for titles while he plays on his rookie contract.

However, that only works if Daniels is on the field, and this week, Mina Kimes raised a very valid point about the second-year QB.

“My concern here is not in the short-term, but more so the long-term for Jayden Daniels. I just think he takes way too many hits. So far this season he leads all quarterbacks in contact, meaning hits or when he scrambles, taking hits and getting contacted on the run.”

She continued, “He led all quarterbacks in contact last year, 206, by a pretty significant margin over Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts. It’s also the way he takes hits, the way it looks. He’s still a little bit slight in frame, and when he’s getting contacted, it’s often in the open field which can lead to some nasty injuries.”

Kimes pleaded, “His future is very bright, he is so good at dicing up defenses from the pocket, but he has to protect himself, or maybe his coaches have to protect him from himself to make sure he has the longevity that he deserves.”

This was a major issue for Jayden Daniels in college, too, and somehow, he just kept getting away with it. The conversation brings back immediate flashbacks to the game against Ole Miss, where Daniels was drilled several times while scrambling or trying to make a play.

The young quarterback has to learn to go down at the end of a run, even sometimes, as well as avoiding contact when a play falls apart.

This is always difficult for scrambling quarterbacks who can run around and extend plays, but it sometimes results in the QB failing to see an incoming defender or taking unnecessary damage when they could just dump the football off to the running back or throw it out of bounds.

There is growing concern about his health, and Colin Cowherd commented on a potential sophomore slump for the Commanders’ QB.

Jayden Daniels has been extremely lucky to avoid serious injury, considering the way he plays, paired with his body type. He is 210 pounds, only a few pounds lighter than Lamar Jackson, but considerably lighter than the likes of other scrambling quarterbacks, including Josh Allen at 240 pounds.

Anthony Richardson is also around 240. Despite his powerful size, he has been injured multiple times since reaching the NFL and has missed a lot of time as a result. Those injuries contributed to his stunted development, which may have cost him his job with the Indianapolis Colts.

Daniels is lucky to have gotten away with it so far, but the concern is how long he can continue to do so before it eventually catches up to him.

The issue was raised during the preseason, too, when Daniels barrelled through tacklers for a score in a meaningless game. He was questioned on why he didn’t slide, and laughed it off, saying:

“I’m playing football. I’m out there. I know everybody puts a big emphasis on preseason, but at the end of the day, it’s a game to me, whether preseason, regular season, or playoffs. I had the opportunity to score. Other people probably didn’t like it, but, hey, it is what it is.”

Daniels has not yet been ruled out against the Raiders, with Marcus Mariota prepared as the backup

Marcus Mariota played in three games last season, including the final game of the year against the Dallas Cowboys. He has been with the Commanders since Jayden Daniels was drafted, and has the mobility to operate Kliff Kingsbury’s offense if called upon.

Last year Mariota came into a game against the Carolina Panthers when Daniels was ruled out, and threw 18 completions on 23 attempts for 205 yards and two touchdowns off the bench.

Mariota was also impressive in Week 18, completing 15 of 18 passes for 161 passing yards and two scores against the Dallas Cowboys.

The Commanders are not expecting Daniels to miss much time with his current knee injury, if any time at all. However, if he does need to sit out a week, Marcus Mariota is a very capable backup with great experience in their system.