Jayden Daniels injury update: NFL insider shares latest on Commanders QB vs. Bears

Jayden Daniels was injured last week during the Commanders’ win over the Panthers, and his status for Week 8 has been up in the air.

Washington’s star rookie quarterback is dealing with a rib injury and has been a limited participant in practice this week. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler provided the latest on the Heisman Trophy winner heading into Sunday’s matchup against the Chicago Bears.

“I’m told, game time decision most likely, and [it’s] a team decision,” Fowler said on SportsCenter on Saturday morning. “Jayden Daniels is hoping to play, wants to play, but it is entirely up to the team to figure that out and how they feel. And the main determining factor is, can he be his dual-threat self? Can he run and protect himself? He can play, but it’s like, would he be 75-80%? They don’t want that.

“They want 100% so that’s why they could be cautious. They’ve got Marcus Mariota ready to go, but they’re gonna see how he feels. They’re gonna test him out, do some light walkthroughs, see how he’s moving around, and then they’ll make the determination.”

After getting knocked out of the game against Carolina with an apparent rib injury, Daniels needed X-rays and was seen in street clothes later in the game. Later, his mother posted to social media that initial tests showed Daniels would be fine. Still, he did not return to the game.

While insiders hinted that it may be unlikely Daniels would be available earlier this week — Fowler’s update is a positive sign that he has progressed better than expected and does have a legitimate shot to suit up. It appears that it won’t be made official until he’s on the field on Sunday in warmups.

Through seven games during his rookie season, Daniels has completed 75.6 percent of his passes for 1,410 yards and six touchdowns to only two interceptions. He’s also a dual threat, rushing for 372 yards and four touchdowns.

On3’s Matt Connolly contributed to this report.