Can Marcus Mariota lead the Commanders to a Week 3 win if Jayden Daniels is out?
Several quarterbacks were injured last week, including Jayden Daniels. Can Marcus Mariota lead the Commanders to a win if Daniels doesn't play?
The Washington Commanders brought back quarterback Marcus Mariota for a specific reason. They believe that if Jayden Daniels went down with an injury, they could still win with the 11-year veteran under center.
Last season, Mariota relieved Daniels in two games, leading Washington to wins, including a game-winning touchdown pass against the Dallas Cowboys in the final seconds of Week 18.
While the Commanders love Mariota, they were hoping they wouldn't need him to play this season, much less this early in the season. Daniels suffered a knee sprain in the Week 2 loss to the Green Bay Packers last week. Head coach Dan Quinn called Daniels "day to day," but some reports seem to indicate that his playing status for Week 3 against the Raiders is in doubt.
Daniels isn't the only notable quarterback injury from Week 2. Joe Burrow will be out for a while. J.J. McCarthy, Brock Purdy and Justin Fields are also dealing with injuries. In Week 3, as many as five backup quarterbacks could get the start, which led Zachary Pereles of CBS Sports to rank the five backups and their chances of leading their respective teams to a Week 3 win.
Where's Mariota?
Pereles ranks Mariota at No. 3, offering the following explanation:
Mariota hasn't started a game since he was with the Falcons in 2022. However, we did see glimpses of him last year with the Commanders. He threw for 205 yards and two scores in a Week 7 romp over the Panthers when Daniels suffered a rib injury early. In Week 18, he accounted for three touchdowns in Washington's 23-19 win over the Cowboys after Washington, having already secured a playoff berth, benched Daniels at halftime. That included a game-winning touchdown toss to Terry McLaurin.
He ranks Jake Browning (Bengals) and Mac Jones (49ers) ahead of Mariota.
That's interesting. While there were a lot of questions surrounding the Commanders after their performance last week, Mariota showed last season that if he plays in Kliff Kingsbury's offense, he can operate at a high level. Mariota may not be as mobile as Daniels, but his mobility remains an asset.
The Commanders hope Daniels will be under center on Sunday, but if he isn't, the offense will not change, which was another reason they wanted Mariota back.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Washington Commanders: Can Marcus Mariota lead them to a win?
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