ASHBURN, Va. — The Washington Commanders are 5-2 and a full win on top of the 4-2 Philadelphia Eagles for first place in the NFC East as we reach the midway point of the NFL season.
With a win over the Chicago Bears this weekend, the Commanders would keep that lead, and if the Cincinnati Bengals do them a solid by beating the Eagles, that lead could grow.
In order to do that, however, Washington may have to go to battle against the Bears without its starting quarterback, as Jayden Daniels has officially been labeled ‘questionable’ to play this Sunday.
“Jayden was able to practice today,” coach Dan Quinn said on Friday. “We followed the plan really, that we set at the start of the week. And for you guys, think of crawl, walk, and run, like we do with a lot of guys on the return back from injury. So, Wednesday into that first piece, Thursday on the walk piece to go, and then Friday to get the run. And we will assess how he responds to the work that we did over the next 48 hours. But we really pushed it today. And playing quarterback, the movements, the skills, and also specific to the game plan. Going through the whole thing, all parts of the field. So, we're really following that process, and we'll let our eyes decide and how he responds over the next 48 hours. And that'll guide us, and we'll make the best decision for him and for the team. And if he can't go, certainly have all the confidence in [QB] Marcus [Mariota]. This quarterback room is really a fun one to be around, to see the support they have for one another and helping one another, their readiness.”
Joining Daniels with a ‘questionable’ status for Sunday is defensive end Dorance Armstrong Jr., who left the Week 7 game against the Baltimore Ravens and missed last week’s win over the Carolina Panthers with a rib injury of his own.
Not playing this weekend will be rookie offensive tackle Brandon Coleman, who suffered a concussion against the Panthers and was unable to clear protocol in time to be active for Week 8.
On the flip side, Chicago will be without safety Jaquan Brisker (concussion) and cornerback Kyler Gordon (hamstring), while three other players are listed as ‘questionable’ entering the weekend.
The Washington Commanders kickoff against the Chicago Bears at 4:25 p.m. ET inside Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland, this Sunday.