Part of the reason why Mariota is normally prepared to play at a moment's notice is because he prepares every day like he's a starter. Part of the responsibility includes establishing chemistry with all his receivers, as wideout Stefon Diggs found out during his first week with the team. Many of Diggs' practice reps came with Mariota as the quarterback while he was learning the offense.
Diggs said he has "100% confidence" in Mariota leading the offense for the foreseeable future.
"We have to work with what we got, and what we got is really good," Diggs said. "We're thankful to have Marcus. I think he's a hell of a player. He's been in this league for a long time, played high-level football."
It's going to take a team effort to rally around Mariota, particularly against a Seahawks team that already looks to be in midseason form despite Sam Darnold being sidelined with a hip injury. Washington's defensive players know they need to do their jobs, regardless of whether Darnold or Drew Lock is starting for the Seahawks, and give Mariota as many opportunities as possible.
And part of that means ending their turnover drought.
"It's going to get loose soon," Odafe Oweh said. "It's bound to stop. If we keep forcing the issue, keep punching the ball out, it's going to get loose."
The Commanders have not yet had any discussions about bringing in another veteran quarterback to mitigate Daniels' absence. Part of that comes from a desire to get as much information as possible on Daniels' injury before making a decision, but it also speaks to how much the Commanders trust their current options. They are confident they can still win and be competitive with Mariota as their starter. He's kept the offense afloat before, and they believe he can do it again.
"Him running the system gives everybody...a calmness about them knowing that, 'All right, eight will take care of it.'"