Washington Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota spoke to the media outside the locker room after Wednesday's practice. Here are four takeaways from his media scrum.

1. "It's different" on the practice field without Jayden Daniels.

Daniels is focused on recovering from his dislocated elbow, and there is no current timetable on his return. That leaves Mariota as the starter until further notice, and while he's happy to prove himself in the role, he admits that "it's different" being on the practice field without the 2024 No. 2 overall pick.

"He's the face of the franchise, and the more that we can get him healthy, get him ready to go, it'll be good for everybody," Mariota said.

The good thing is that Daniels is not completely absent from the facility. Mariota said Daniels is still in the building, participating in meetings and interacting with his teammates. That's a good sign to Mariota, because despite the situation, Daniels isn't changing his outlook.

"That doesn't change for Jay, and that's something that's really special about him. So, he is always around...and I think the more that he is around, guys appreciate it."

2. The team still believes it can win.

The Commanders find themselves down multiple key players heading into their matchup with the Detroit Lions, as the injuries have continued to pile up over the course of the season. They are not eliminated from playoff contention yet, but they're now in a situation where they need to break their losing streak quickly in order to stay in the hunt.

Asked whether the team still believes they can win, Mariota said: "Absolutely."

"And it starts up top with DQ [Head Coach Dan Quinn]," Mariota said. "He sets the mood every day, guys follow that and I do believe that. And again, it's not going to all happen at once."

The first step for the Commanders to climb back into the playoff discussion is to upset the Detroit Lions, who are coming off a division loss to the Minnesota Vikings last week. Jared Goff has the Lions' offense humming, while their defense is eighth in yards allowed per game.

The Week 10 game is only the start of the Commanders' difficult stretch in the season, as they must play the Denver Broncos, Vikings and Eagles.

"We understand that being out here, taking it one day at a time, getting things corrected, getting things organized, making sure everyone's on the same page so that when we do get to Sunday, guys are feeling confident and ready to go."

3. Building on the first half of the loss to Kansas City.

Washington's first-half performance against the Chiefs two weeks ago is arguably the best the team has looked all season, as they forced two turnovers from Patrick Mahomes and kept the score tied, 7-7 heading into the third quarter.

Things fell apart after that for several reasons, but Mariota wants to recapture some of the efficiency the offense had in the first two quarters of the Monday night matchup.

"It's just continuing to not shoot ourselves in the foot," Mariota said. "I think [in] the second half we had, whether it's penalties, negative plays, those types of things really hurt our drives. So, it's cleaning up little things. I think as an offense we are close and the more that everyone is on the same page, I think those things are going to get cleaned up."

4. Urgency over "overtrying."

Washington's predicament presents tempting situations where the players feel the need to make plays to get back into games. Those are high-risk, high-reward decisions, because while they can occasionally lead to game-changing plays, they can also result in creating an even deeper hole to climb out of.

Mariota wants the team, including himself, to balance having a sense of urgency while also not trying too hard to correct mistakes.

"You don't have to put the Superman cape on," he said. "I think that's kind of what is communicated throughout the building."

That doesn't mean the Commanders should be idle. They will need to make gutsy calls and push themselves in order to just get back to .500, never mind getting back into the playoff hunt. To use Mariota's words, "You just gotta fight and claw."

"I believe in the guys in here that they'll do that, and we'll be where we want to be."