The Washington Commanders were not going to score 31 points in the final eight minutes. And yet, head coach Dan Quinn opted to keep quarterback Jayden Daniels in the firing line despite his injury problems this season.
This plan backfired spectacularly. Daniels fell awkwardly, and it now looks like he'll potentially miss the rest of 2025 with a dislocated elbow that removes any slim hope the Commanders had of turning their campaign around.
Questions were immediately asked of Quinn. There was no benefit whatsoever to keeping Daniels on the field, and everyone watching knew it. That was not an opinion shared by the head coach, and Washington paid the heaviest price imaginable.
Damien Harris goes scorched earth on Commanders head coach Dan Quinn after Jayden Daniels injury
Damien Harris, a former NFL running back who now works as an analyst for CBS Sports, eviscerated Quinn for his inexplicable call to leave Daniels in the game. It served absolutely no purpose whatsoever, and now, the Commanders will have to live with the repercussions.
"I'm p----d off. This was malpractice by Dan Quinn. Having him in the game, in the fourth quarter, down 38 to seven, when Jayden Daniels has already missed time with injuries. He is your most prized possession as a franchise, and you're just having him out there to do what? What was his purpose of being out there? Was he going to get any better? Was he going to learn anything? Was he going to bring his team back to win? No, no, no. What's the point of having him in the game? What's the point in having backup quarterbacks? For a situation like this. They didn't utilize that, and now they're going to have to live with the consequences."
Damien Harris via CBS Sports
"This was malpractice by Dan Quinn. [Jayden Daniels] is your prized possession as a franchise. What's the point of having him in the game!"@DHx34 reacts to Jayden Daniels' injury against the Seahawks. pic.twitter.com/QBBeUbaIL0
— NFL on CBS ð (@NFLonCBS) November 3, 2025
All the criticism coming Quinn's way is deserved. Daniels probably didn't want to come off the field, but someone in authority should have stepped up and made the call needed. That's on the head coach.
The game was out of sight, and the risks far outweighed the reward. That's without counting for the fact that the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year was pressured on an astonishing 51 percent of his dropbacks.
Now, it seems as if the Commanders will be without Daniels for an extended period. And if they had any sense whatsoever, Washington would shut him down for the entire campaign, regardless of whether he's healthy enough to come back or not.
This season is a wash. It promised a great deal, but it's now spiraling out of control. Leaving Daniels on the field was just the latest in a long line of errors that is bringing increased scrutiny onto Quinn and his coaching staff.
And things might get worse before they get better.