Commanders were rewarded for not making a brutal Jayden Daniels mistake

The Washington Commanders were without starting quarterback Jayden Daniels in Week 3 against the Las Vegas Raiders due to a knee injury. Rather than sending him out to play through a strain and potentially risk further aggravating his injury, the team made the right decision and started backup QB Marcus Mariota.

Washington was rewarded for that safe decision with a solid performance from the NFL veteran. Mariota went 15-for-21 and threw for 207 yards plus a touchdown in the 41-24 Week 3 victory. He proved that he too could use his legs to a similar effect as Daniels, rushing for 40 yards and his own score in the first quarter.

Sunday's performance should give Commanders fans confidence in the team with Daniels on the mend. Now head coach Dan Quinn has proof of concept to keep his star QB on the bench until he's back to 100 percent.

Commanders have every reason to keep Jayden Daniels on the sideline until he's healthy

Washington travels to Atlanta to take on the Falcons in Week 4. That's a tough defense that gave the Minnesota Vikings everything they could handle in Week 2 but were ripped for a 30-0 shutout the very following game.

If Daniels is still encountering any kind of discomfort during practice this week, Quinn should definitely consider starting Mariota again. If the Week 2 Falcons show up, it prevents Daniels from being put through unnecessary hits and if the Week 3 Falcons show up then Mariota should have no problem getting the victory. It's a win-win scenario.

"I love this team, I love being out there," Mariota told reporters postgame. "I think I'm here for a reason, I believe in it... Whether that's going to be something long term I have no idea."

If Quinn knows what's good for his team, he'll keep Mariota out there as long as Daniels needs to get fully healthy. The team may be well ahead of schedule on its rebuild but it cannot afford to rush Daniels back to game action and potentially have a repeat of the Robert Griffin III situation. I'm not so sure the franchise could recover a second time from such a mistake.