Marcus Mariota edged closer to making his 75th career regular-season start on Friday with fellow quarterback Jayden Daniels not on the field when the Washington Commanders began their final practice of the week.
Daniels has been on the field early in the day this week to throw, but hasn’t gone through a practice since injuring his knee last Thursday in Washington’s loss at Green Bay.
Head coach Dan Quinn set participation in practice as a must this week for the Commanders to have confidence Daniels safely can return to the starting role.
Short of that, the plan is to hand the keys to 31-year-old backup Mariota for the starting assignment against one of his former teams, the Las Vegas Raiders. It would be his first start in three years.
“Anytime he’s asked to play or practice or even on scout team, he’s been phenomenal,” Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury said. “So, he treats it like a pro as a leader on the team despite not being the starter, which is hard to do and can’t say enough good things about him. So, if he has to go, I’m sure he will be ready.”
Mariota the first-team offense in all three practices this week. It’s the first extended work with the group he’s had since last season. He battled tendinitis during training camp, limiting his availability and keeping him from playing in any of Washington’s three preseason games.
Mariota completed 77.3 percent of his passes in two cameo appearances in 2024 and re-signed with Washington to continue mentoring Daniels, the 2024 Offensive Rookie of the Year. In the 2024 regular-season finale, Mariota relieved Daniels and connected with Terry McLaurin for the game-winning touchdown with two seconds left. He finished the game with a total of three touchdowns and was 15-of-18 passing.
“I think that’s what’s been awesome about this team. We kind of preach it every single day, but just the brotherhood, the connection, regardless of how this situation plays out, just knowing that the guys have my back gives me confidence,” Mariota said.
Mariota spent the first five seasons of his 11-year NFL career with the Tennessee Titans, who drafted him No. 2 overall out of Oregon in 2015. He signed with the Raiders in 2020 and played in 11 games over two seasons before jumping to the Atlanta Falcons (2022), Philadelphia Eagles (2023) and Commanders.