The show out at Washington Commanders headquarters has been a tribute to those legends of comedy, The Three Stooges.
Hospital loudspeaker: “Calling Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard. Calling Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard.”
Dr. Howard: “What is it nurse?”
“Nurse: “His elbow, doctors … no, doctors, his left one, not the right one.”
Dr. Fine: “It seems damaged.”
Dr. Howard: “No, it’s just sore.”
Dr. Fine: “He shouldn’t play.”
Dr. Howard: “He can play.”
“For duty and humanity!”
There have been a lot of comparisons — most of them misguided — of Robert Griffin III’s time with this franchise and the stint so far of Jayden Daniels,
But the parallels between Daniels’ hurt elbow and Griffin’s knee injury are eerie. All that’s missing is Dr. James Andrews on the sideline wearing a Redskins beanie.
Daniels won’t be starting Sunday in the Meadowlands against the New York Giants, just one week after he returned to play following a three-game absence due to a dislocated left elbow the quarterback suffered last month in a 38-10 loss to Seattle.
Early in the second half of last Sunday’s 31-0 beating by the Minnesota Vikings, Daniels hurt his left elbow after throwing an interception and being blocked to the turf on the return.
He was taken out of the game and didn’t return. Afterwards, coach Dan Quinn said Daniels could have gone back in.
“Jayden obviously fell on his elbow, was questionable to return, and could have,” Quinn told reporters. “It was my decision to sit him out. Just you know, as a team at this point, we were off and felt like that was the right call for us.”
On Wednesday, though, Quinn met with the media and said Daniels won’t be starting Sunday against the Giants. “He did re-aggravate his elbow injury in the game. No structural setbacks. However, through the medical evaluations over the last couple days, including this morning doctors advised us to withhold him this Sunday.”
I would presume that the team doctors told Quinn Sunday that Daniels, after being examined on the sideline in the blue medical tent, could have gone back in the game. I doubt that Quinn came to that conclusion on his own.
Yet now they find Daniels did re-aggravate the elbow injury. I get diagnosis in the heat of the moment during an NFL game certainly is an inexact science. But what if they had put Daniels back in the Minnesota game? Quinn believed he could have done so.
What kind of damage might have been done?
After all, the doctors determined Daniels shouldn’t play against the Giants. What changed between Sunday afternoon and Wednesday?
“The imaging was good, so there’s no structural setbacks,” Quinn said. “Just like most players, you talk to him on a Sunday and then again what Monday feels like and not quite the same of swelling or strength and those things to go into it. So, it was confirmed, no structural in the evaluation at the game. And then again, this week.”
If there is no damage, what about Daniels’ status in the remaining three games after Sunday — two against the Philadelphia Eagles, with the Dallas Cowboys sandwiched in between?
“He’ll practice as we’re going in a limited fashion,” Quinn said. “But let’s see where we’re at next week. We’re always going to make the best decisions for him, you know, for the team, and what the medical opinions are.”
Those medical opinions seem a little shaky, reminiscent of one of the worst days in franchise history: Jan. 6, 2013, when Griffin took the field in a brace to protect his injured right knee in a playoff game against Seattle.
Everyone knows the story — coach Mike Shanahan kept Griffin in the game despite questions, and when Griffin’s knee buckled in the fourth quarter, he was pulled and wound up with torn knee ligaments. He was never the same.
Shanahan said Griffin had medical clearance to play. “Our medical staff said he was fine to play,” Shanahan said. “Checked with the doctors and asked them their opinion if we would be hampering his LCL (lateral collateral ligament) if we did play him or was he in good enough shape to go into the game and play at the level that we need for him to win.”
Shanahan said Andrews was one of those doctors. “I think doctors always worry anytime somebody has an injury,” he said. “But they clear a player if they think he’s able to play, and we obviously take their recommendation very seriously.”
Certainly, Griffin’s medical situation was far more serious than Daniels’, who has a sore non-throwing elbow. But this is his third injury this season, missing six games with knee and hamstring issues. The story about Daniels has changed from his Rookie of the Year performance last season to his fragility this year.
The debate still rages about whether or not Griffin should have been on the field. And here we are again, debating if Washington’s young savior quarterback should not play not only Sunday, but the rest of the season, medical clearance or not.
“We haven’t really gone down that road yet to decide,” Quinn said. “He’s out this week and he’s working hard to get back, but as far as what decisions are ahead, we just haven’t gotten down that road.”
It’s been a rocky road that has made the organization look comical.
Catch Thom Loverro on The Kevin Sheehan Show podcast.
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