How should Commanders handle Jayden Daniels these last six games?

Context is always king.

So taught a teacher of mine many years ago. Decades later, it is still as true as it was then. So when listening to Washington, D.C. radio this past week and hearing differing fans and talk show hosts discuss Jayden Daniels playing this year, I understand there is no easy answer. The season's context, the team's place this season, provides a different context, and that context determines the answer to the question.

Should Daniels play again this season? Well, if he had only been injured once and the team still had a shot at the playoffs, then there would be no debate. He absolutely should be playing.

If the context were that he was injured three different times this season, and there are only one or two games left, and you are eliminated from the playoffs, then, no, why would you risk putting him back out there for only that one or two games, when your team is not going anywhere?

However, the context for this 2025 season is that there are still six games remaining on the schedule. Yes, he has been injured three times, thus missing games due to three different injuries. But are the Commanders' coaches going to ask many other guys on the team to play these last six games when many of them have sore knees, ankles, a stiff back, and sore shoulders? They are not 100 percent, and you are gonna tell them to get out there for six games, but then you are gonna tell them you are protecting Jayden all six games?

Hey, I'd really in one sense prefer not to play Daniels anymore this season. But it is not an individual sport. There are others involved, 52 others. Football is the ultimate team game. I've gone back and forth on this because I am a big believer in weighing the risk vs. the reward. But with six games remaining, I'm afraid the Commanders are going to need to play Jayden in some of these six games.

Having said that, Jayden needs to take on more responsibility to get down or get out of bounds more often. Some of the hits he was taking in the Seattle game were unnecessary. No, that is not hindsight. I was watching him take hits he could have avoided. If anything, shouldn't Jayden be much wiser now than he was when Dan Quinn was yelling at him from the sidelines a few times last year?

Being injured three times this year, missing games from three different injuries, Jayden Daniels should now know, more than ever, that he really isn't indestructible. He should have an even greater understanding that he is more vulnerable to injury than he previously wanted to accept. He needs to accept the reality: the context knocked out three different times in a season?

Please get down and out of bounds quicker, Jayden, and you improve your chances of playing effectively for a long time and enjoying much success in the NFL.

This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Washington Commanders: How much should Jayden Daniels play?