Washington Commanders’ quarterback Jayden Daniels was the topic of much conversation in the lead-up to the Chicago Bears game with a rib injury.
After going through his paces at practice, Daniels was given the green light to suit up and led his team to an 18-15 win over the Bears.
But he was still clearly impacted by his rib injury, often showing signs of discomfort. Yet he played through the pain and delivered when his team needed him to.
For head coach Dan Quinn, he knows the effect of Daniels playing through the pain barrier can have on the locker room.
“I think this time of year, there’s stuff that guys battle through that maybe no one else knows about. Obviously, with quarterback, there was just a little bit of attention on that last week,” Quinn said . “When you just demonstrate that kind of toughness to your teammates, those are impactful moments, knowing that they’ll just battle for one another, and that was his way of demonstrating that.”
If Daniels didn’t have the entire locker room following him before the Bears clash (he did), he does now, and while it might not seem like much, having a player put their body on the line for the team, what it does to a team’s psyche can’t be understated.