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Dan Quinn believes the Commanders are in good hands on Sunday with Marcus Mariota.
Yes, it’s official, Mariota is starting for Jayden Daniels because of an injured knee that is not yet ready for NFL action. Mariota is not only starting, but Quinn is absolutely confident Mariota can run the Commanders’ offense just the way offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury wants it run. He also conveyed that it is not just because of the present situation of Daniels not being in the lineup this week. How confident is Quinn? “A lot, zero honestly to do with this week.”
Quinn has made it clear previously that Mariota has proven himself to the players and coaches last season with the way he performed in two games and the way he carried himself throughout last year’s training camp, not being named the starter and then the entire season.
“When we have him here, it’s having two QBs in the building, and we’ve been together now going into our second season. So, the room’s pretty fantastic. They lean on each other when things are best, how to feature the guys into that space. So, I would say it’s probably our time together of what we’ve seen where he is.”
Understandably, there was concern for Mariota being injured throughout the preseason.
“About a month ago, he had an Achilles injury, maybe a little longer, maybe, but he really worked hard to get that part right. And maybe three weeks ago or so, man, you could feel all the things coming back in the first week of the season working against the defense on so many things, but he’s just got such a strong grasp of what we do and how we get down.”
In 2024, Mariota came in when Daniels was injured against the Panthers, and played quite well, completing 18 of 23 for 205 yards, two touchdown passes, and an impressive passer rating of 132.8. Then in the season finale, Daniels really struggled in the first half, and Mariota came on in relief, bringing back the Commanders to a last-second win over Dallas on the road, finishing 15-18 for 161 passing yards, two touchdowns, including the game-winner to Terry McLaurin and a passer rating of 141.0.
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