Jayden Daniels is back: Will he play in Week 14 vs. Vikings?

There was a first at Commanders Park in Ashburn on Thursday.

For the first time since dislocating his elbow in a Sunday Night game against the Seattle Seahawks, Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels was listed as a full participant in practice.

Just yesterday, head coach Dan Quinn said Daniels had not yet been cleared for contact. On Thursday, there was no word that Daniels had been cleared for contact, so apparently, he wasn't. Yet, this move tells us that the Commanders have liked what they have seen in practices recently, and are determined to increase the load on Daniels to a full-time participant.

Nickie Jhabvala of The Athletic tweeted that if Daniels is cleared to play Sunday in Minnesota, it’ll be the first time all season Washington has its starting QB, top three receivers and full starting OL (with Sam Cosmi) on the field together. Cosmi tore an ACL in the playoff victory at Detroit in January. During his rehabilitation and recovery, he missed training camp, the preseason games, and the first six regular-season games. But has moved well in the last six games since his return.

As for the top three receivers: Terry McLaurin, who returned to the lineup last week against the Broncos, has played in only five games in 2025. Deebo Samuel has played in 11 of 12 games, though in two games he was significantly slowed while trying to play through a sore heel. Noah Brown was injured in the Week 2 loss at Green Bay and is trending upward to return this week (Week 14).

It leaves Washington short one starter. However, they will not have the opportunity to enjoy a return from Weeks 1 and 2, starting running back Austin Ekeler. Ekeler, in Week 2 at Green Bay, tore an Achilles Tendon and was lost for the remainder of the season. If Daniels does play, it would be the first time all season that Daniels has had all of his line and top three receivers.

There is no guarantee of wins, and none of them play defense. The Commanders' defense has been one of the very worst in the NFL this season. But hey, it's a reason to be optimistic about the Commanders moving forward in these final five games of the season.

This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Washington Commanders: Jayden Daniels returns to practice