EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsLANDOVER, MD. -- The last time Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels won a start before Sunday night's 27-10 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, he had yet to dislocate his elbow and had not endured questions about his durability or his game.That's why, when asked if it felt like it had been a year since his last win -- it was Oct. 5, 2025 to be exact -- Daniels said, "It probably felt longer."That's why he wanted to savor Sunday's win in which he completed 16-of-29 passes for 217 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for 23 yards. He completed passes for 53 and 30 yards in the second half. It also was just Washington's second win of the season. The Commanders are now 2-4-1 and two games behind the first-place Giants in the NFC East.Ever since that win over the Chargers last year, Daniels had endured a number of adverse situations.He fumbled a ball the following week leading to a Chicago comeback win; he missed a game with a hamstring injury; he dislocated his left elbow and missed three games only to re-aggravate it upon his return causing him to be shut down for the final four games.Then, in 2026, he missed two games after dislocating the elbow again and in his last game at home he failed to throw the ball out of bounds to stop the clock in overtime, preventing the Commanders from kicking a last-second field goal to snap a tie vs. the Giants.All total, he was 0-7-1 in his last eight starts -- though he failed to finish four of those outings. Prior to that stretch, he had won 15 of his first 20 regular season starts."It's a blessing," Daniels said, "just to go out there and everything I've been through in my career so far, just to keep pushing and keep fighting through adversity to come out with a big time win with these guys and knowing I could have had a different direction."As in, being done for the season after dislocating the elbow in Week 2. But he finished his third consecutive game since the injury. He's now thrown six touchdown passes with no interceptions; he's run for two more scores."You make those sacrifices because guys are putting everybody on the line," said Daniels, who had the wind knocked out of him on a hit late in the first half. "Who am I to not do the same thing?"Washington coach Dan Quinn wasn't surprised."He showed a lot of toughness," Quinn said. "He took a real shot toward the end of the first half. To see him [go], 'I'm good,' and he comes back and then made a bunch of plays. ... I always feel [his] poise and control."Daniels also displayed his evolving leadership. In Washington's first three series, the Commanders committed four penalties, missed a 55-yard field goal, had one three-and-out and lost a fumble. After the turnover, Daniels gathered most of the offensive players on the sidelines for a combination lecture and inspiration."It was complete BS, just how we started and what we were doing," Daniels said. "At the point it wasn't our brand of football that we want to showcase. You just get frustrated and you go up and you got to speaker your mind. That's what I did and just helped snap everybody back into place."The Commanders then scored the next 27 points."When you have your leader do that and stand in front of everybody, everyone feels that urgency and we played better after that," backup quarterback Marcus Mariota said. "He finds his voice and he picks his spot."Running back Austin Ekeler said it was the first time he's seen Daniels pull everyone together like that during a game."He brought the offense up and was getting us mentally reset, 'hey, we know if we don't stop ourselves we can score points,'" Ekeler said. "It's hard being a leader in this league, especially at quarterback. You have a lot on your plate. The older you get the more you understand your role so it's cool to see him bring us up like that."Daniels did his part after that talk. He led scoring drives on three of the next four series, including an eight-yard pass to receiver Stefon Diggs, for a 13-10 halftime lead. In the second half he completed five-of-eight passes for 121 yards."The mindset of this team is awesome," Ekeler said. "It's good to get a win for him, for all of us."
