In a season slipping away, Commanders are right to prioritize Jayden Daniels' health -- now and for the future

When news came out that Jayden Daniels suffered a knee sprain in Week 2 against the Packers, Dan Quinn knew what to say.

"With Jayden, we know how important he is ... It's day by day to make sure that he can absolutely be himself."

And later ...

"It gets more attention, for sure, and look here: We recognize, like, what Jayden is and the impact that he has here, but I'd be BS-ing if I said we wouldn't care about those guys in the same way."

Translation: We make sure all of our players are healthy, and we go through all of the return-to-play measures equally, but we know we have to treat our franchise quarterback with special care. As every team should.

Daniels ended up missing two games and wore a brace -- to his chagrin -- for the next three. The Commanders didn't have media availability Wednesday, when it was reported that Daniels will miss a Week 8 "Monday Night Football" showdown against the Chiefs due to a low-grade hamstring strain suffered against the Cowboys in Week 7, but you can bet Quinn will repeat a similar refrain Thursday.

After playing in all 20 games (including playoffs) as a rookie, Daniels is now slated to miss his third game already this season.

Everyone wanted a piece of Daniels and the Commanders after his historic rookie season led Washington to its first NFC Championship Game appearance in over 30 years. Washington has eight standalone games this season, tied with Dallas for most in the league, and on paper entering the year, that made sense. Reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year? Check. Big names back? Check. More big names arriving? Check.

But that team is not this one. The Commanders are 3-4, and myriad issues have become apparent with this team, some without any clear solutions.

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On one hand, the Commanders are running out of time to save this much-anticipated campaign, and it appears the margins will only get slimmer without Daniels. After the news of Daniels' absence emerged, the Chiefs climbed to 11.5-point favorites (per FanDuel Sportsbook) at Arrowhead Stadium, where the Commanders have never won. Could Marcus Mariota pull off an upset? Sure, we suppose. He has performed well in relief of Daniels several times over the past few seasons.

But in all likelihood, even if Mariota plays well, the Commanders, who are already 13th in the ultra-competitive NFC, will fall to 3-5. That would match their loss total from all of last season with more than half of this campaign to go.

In the short term, any loss is a disappointment. In the medium term, a 3-5 record and one of the league's hardest schedules remaining spells a likely postseason-less season; SportsLine already has Washington down to a 14% chance to make the playoffs.

But in the long term, medium term and short term, it's the right choice.

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A franchise quarterback is not a commodity to be trifled with. Perhaps earlier versions of this franchise, with a meddlesome owner, would have looked at a schedule full of nationally televised games and pushed their shiny star to play. Success for this franchise has been so fleeting that capitalizing on attention was priority No. 1.

But this new regime -- owner Josh Harris, general manager Adam Peters, Quinn and others -- knows how to take a long view, even if the TV schedule and preseason predictions and, to be fair, offseason transactions said "win now."

Quinn has already displayed his acumen dealing with the ultra-competitive Daniels, who pleaded to play through the knee sprain and wanted to return to the Dallas game.

"It's good that I've known him for a year and a half now," Quinn said Oct. 1. "I think when you're first getting to know somebody, you're feeling that out, but knowing what his best looks like and also having trust in one another to do that. And so, I think that's a big piece of it."

As difficult as this season has been -- Quinn responded "Yes. Very." when asked if he was surprised about his team being 3-4, and injuries and poor performance have wreaked havoc -- Daniels' health remains No. 1.

A 3-5 record, even with a brutal schedule ahead, isn't a death sentence, and Washington may have been 3-5 even if Daniels did play. Rushing Daniels back would be unwise, therefore, in the short term. If him missing a showdown with Patrick Mahomes is disappointing, imagine how disappointing it'd be if he played and aggravated the injury.

In the medium term, there's still real experience to gain by having a healthy Daniels the rest of the season, even if it's not a playoff-bound season. You don't want this to be an injury that nags at him or carries over into the offseason. Washington needs to evaluate its roster to appropriately get the franchise back on course for the long term, and having Daniels an active part of that roster is crucial.

In the long term, let's not forget what this team was. Last year, Washington became just the seventh team to win 12-plus games one season after winning four or fewer. All six previous teams had a worse record the next season.

Four of the previous six teams would make or win a conference title in the next two years following their "down" year, the exact sort of year the Commanders might be in for. A fifth, the Cowboys of the past decade, has been a consistent contender.

Progress in the NFL isn't always linear. The Commanders are finding that out the hard way. Last year, they broke through far earlier than anyone expected. They brought back many pieces of that puzzle and tried to fill in some missing pieces, but in general, it's a similar group to last year's, just slightly worse, significantly more injured, significantly less lucky and facing a significantly tougher schedule.

Harris, Peters and Quinn always knew building Washington into a Super Bowl competitor was a big undertaking, one that wouldn't be complete in one year no matter the result. It doesn't look like it will be complete in two years, either. But the most important part of a Super Bowl contender -- a quarterback -- has to be the constant, year-in and year-out. By being safe with Daniels, the Commanders are ensuring that can be the case.