Jayden Daniels is back on the sideline with another significant injury to his left elbow, and Terrell Owens believes the Washington Commanders deserve scrutiny over how their quarterback was prepared for the season.
Daniels dislocated the elbow on the final play of the first half in Washington’s 37-20 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. He lost his balance while pulling away from under center, tried to brace himself with his left arm and immediately went down in pain.
The concern is amplified by Daniels’ recent history. He dislocated the same elbow against the Seattle Seahawks in November 2025, returned after missing four games and later saw that season end following another hard fall in December.
Owens, speaking on the Get To The Point podcast, was direct in his assessment.
“I think the training staff failed him,” Owens said. “I don’t know what rehab that he did over the summer, but I think anybody knows, I’m not a doctor by any means, I think his training staff failed him.”
Daniels also had to take ownership of recovery
Owens didn’t place all of the responsibility on Washington, instead also pointing to Daniels himself.
“I think he has to police himself to understand what you needed to do during the offseason to better and improve and rehab on the injuries from years prior,” Owens said.
“Those are things you want to prioritize because you don’t want to go into the season with those same injuries recurring.”
The injury itself also came on a chaotic play rather than from a routine football hit, with Daniels stumbling before instinctively extending the arm to break his fall.
Quinn refuses to second-guess play call
The timing of the injury has also brought coach Dan Quinn under scrutiny.
Washington ran another offensive play from near the goal line just before halftime, rather than settling for a field goal or allowing the clock to expire. Quinn said afterward that he had no regrets.
“I thought looking back on it, at the 1-yard line, we need touchdowns,” Quinn said. “I don’t regret that call. Obviously any time someone’s injured you play the ‘what if’ game. I don’t think this is one of those times for me. I hate that it happened.”
He added: “We’re going to be aggressive in this game against their offense. So I don’t regret that. Obviously, the outcome sucks.”
Commanders rally around Daniels
Washington’s players have meanwhile pushed back against a separate wave of criticism after a short broadcast clip appeared to show teammates walking away while Daniels was being treated.
Left tackle Brandon Coleman called the reaction “bulls**t,” while Terry McLaurin explained that players were being instructed to leave the field because halftime had begun.
“We know we had to get back in the locker room,” McLaurin said, “but no one wanted to leave. That’s our brother.”
The larger issue remains Daniels’ health and how long Washington may now be without its franchise quarterback.
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