Marcus Mariota will start at quarterback in place of Jayden Daniels, who suffered a hamstring injury in Week 7, for the Washington Commanders' Monday Night Football matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs, head coach Dan Quinn confirmed on Thursday.
Monday's game will be the third start Mariota has made in place of Daniels this season. In those previous matchups against the Las Vegas Raiders and Atlanta Falcons, Mariota completed 31 of his 48 pass attempts for 363 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
Daniels, who sustained his hamstring injury at the start of the third quarter against the Dallas Cowboys, underwent an MRI on Monday that revealed the injury "not significant," according to head coach Dan Quinn during his Monday press conference. However, the Commanders have been cautious about Daniels' health, as he has already missed two games this season with a knee injury. It was initially reported by NFL Network's Ian Rapoport that Daniels would not be available for Monday's game.
Mariota came in for Daniels with nearly 12 minutes left in the third quarter of the Cowboys game and remained the starter for the rest of the afternoon. Mariota finished the game 4-of-10 for 63 yards with an interception returned for a touchdown by DaRon Bland in a 44-22 loss.
Quinn said the team will make sure Daniels goes through every step of his recovery before he gets back under center but stopped short of providing a concrete timeline. Regardless of when Daniels does come back, the Commanders face a daunting schedule for the next month with the eighth-toughest slate of games for the rest of the season, including two primetime games and a trip to Spain in the next four weeks.
Although the Chiefs are third in the AFC West with a 4-3 record, they have won four of their last five games and are coming off a 31-0 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders. Their offense ranks in the top 10 in five major categories, while Patrick Mahomes is fourth in passing yards and tied for fourth in touchdowns with the third-best QBR in the league.
The Commanders have struggled with injuries on both sides of the ball all season. On offense, Noah Brown and Austin Ekeler are both on Injured Reserve with the latter out for the season. They could get a boost this week, though, as Quinn informed Sirius XM Radio that both Terry McLaurin (quad) and Deebo Samuel (heel) are set to practice for the next three days. The two were supposed to be complementary pieces this season but have rarely been on the field together because of their injuries.
The team will decide later in the week whether either player can suit up on Monday. If they are both cleared to return, it would be the most complete arsenal of weapons Washington's offense has had at its disposal since Week 3.
