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ASHBURN, Va. — Dan Quinn was well aware of the narrative that spilled out of Dallas on Sunday night.
It started slowly on the national television broadcast, then picked up steam as it hit social media.
The video of Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels reeling in pain after dislocating his elbow was broadcast live on Fox. His teammates, particularly his offensive line, slowly walked back to the halftime locker room as the medical staff attended to Daniels.
It looked as though the Commanders abandoned their franchise star on the field. Pundits claimed Daniels wasn’t well liked or the rest of the team didn’t care about the injury. Only backup quarterback Marcus Mariota initially stayed by his side.
“Quarterbacks are supposed to be leaders of men. They are supposed to be setting the tone,” former MVP quarterback Boomer Esiason said. “I don’t know if that is the case with Jayden or not, but that certainty did not look good.”
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Quinn, however, wanted to set the record straight.
“It was just the opposite,” Washington’s head coach said. “These guys were absolutely gutted. When the [first] half was over, the referees even came and said they can’t delay the half and we can’t stay on the field. And [his teammates] were like, ‘No, I’m staying.’ So it’s just the opposite in fact.”
Daniels was injured on the final play of the first half. When the play was over, the halftime clock started rolling even as Daniels remained down.
Several of his teammates, including the offensive linemen, came back onto the field to be with Daniels as a cart was brought out.
“They love this guy, and so halftime was hard,” Quinn said. “It was emotional in that space. I thought coming back out [of halftime], Marcus was in the front of it. ‘Hey, let’s get going.’ But it was definitely difficult, for sure.”
In the immediate aftermath, several of Daniels’ teammates said they didn’t want to leave the quarterback on the field. Veteran receiver Terry McLaurin and center Nick Allegretti both indicated they tried to be by his side. Mariota kneeled next to Daniels nearly the entire time he was on the field.
“I just wanted to stay there with him and say, ‘Hey, Dog, I got you. Just want to know that someone is caring for you,’” Mariota said.






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