Washington star Jayden Daniels is back at practice. But is anything truly different?

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HERTFORDSHIRE, England — Jayden Daniels danced a little, swaying to the American music blasting halfway across the world.

Inside a five-star resort in the English countryside, Washington’s franchise quarterback took snaps under center and joked with his teammates Thursday. He looked over at his offensive coordinator, David Blough, and fired off a few throws.

If you didn’t know anything, you might think everything was business as usual for Washington’s franchise star.

But walk a few steps closer, and you see why it isn’t.

On Daniels’ left arm, right under his jersey, sits a new brace.

It straps up four times and has a bulky hinge at the elbow — a last firewall to prevent another catastrophe.

And now Commanders fans are left with a question only time can answer: Will a plan to get Daniels back on the field that did not work a year ago be successful this time around?

Daniels is wearing the brace because three of the last four times he stepped on a football field, it ended with him in an X-ray room. He’s dislocated his elbow twice and aggravated it once. The most recent injury came two weeks ago in Dallas, when the quarterback fell in a heap trying to brace his fall. He was carted off the field and a fanbase collectively held its breath.

In the interim, he crisscrossed the United States, hearing opinions on whether to get surgery or tough it out for the rest of the year. He decided against surgery.

Which brings us back to England, where Daniels is returning to practice — maybe even returning to play — against the Indianapolis Colts this week. Washington is just hoping the brace will keep him on the field this time.

“Having the brace is gonna be a big part of him,” head coach Dan Quinn said. “He’ll wear that the entire season.”

This isn’t the first time Daniels tried a brace. After the initial injury last year, a dislocated elbow in Week 9, Daniels missed four weeks and returned with support on his arm.

At the time, he said the brace bothered him. It also was not effective. His first game back in Minnesota, he fell to the ground and aggravated the injury again. Washington shut him down for the season.

So what changed now?

Well, the Commanders believe they learned from the first time around. This brace is different in that it does not allow his arm full range of motion. In theory, that won’t let him hyperextend the elbow anymore.

And Washington says it knows how to handle the injury now.

They are gradually building Daniels up to a full throwing schedule. They also want to build his comfort level with the brace on, hoping it doesn’t move when he’s playing.

“We’re going to make sure that he’s right,” Blough said. “I think the second time around, you certainly learn lessons of what it’s going to be like. How do we keep his legs in shape? What’s the swelling like? There’s so many different variables that go into it the second time versus the first time. It’s been a really good conversation since halftime in the Dallas game.”

As far as this week goes, Blough said it is still “fluid” as to who starts. He didn’t rule Daniels out, even though he just went through his first full practice on Thursday. Washington won last week with backup quarterback Marcus Mariota and is playing a 1-2 Colts team. In theory, Mariota should be able to handle the challenge.

But...

“At the end of the day, I think if he’s out there and he can play, he should play,” Mariota said. “This is his team. And the more that we can help support that and give him all the tools that he needs to be successful, that’s what our roles are.”

Blough added that there is no specific timeline when a decision about Daniels’ availability for this week needs to be made. If it is determined on Saturday that he is cleared, he will start.

“I think the sooner in our profession is certainly better, but we are here in these roles and paid to adapt and be versatile,” he said. “Our job is to be able to have the contingencies ... adapt and try to find a way in that week to win.”

As Daniels reflected on the last two weeks, he said there wasn’t much discussion of him shutting it down. Doctors told him the surgery wasn’t immediately necessary.

“I love football. I play football, and I get paid to play football,” he said. “So I owe it to my teammates. Give it a shot to go out there and play. I just have to protect myself.”

The brace is his answer to protecting himself, just like it was last year.

But this time around he feels it’s different. Only a game will tell.