<\/p>\n
Washington Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota (8) passes against the Dallas Cowboys in the second half during an NFL football game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026.<\/p>\n
Julio Cortez\/AP Photo\/Julio Cortez<\/p>\n
Washington Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota (8) and quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) prepare for an NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
Matt Slocum\/AP Photo\/Matt Slocum<\/p>\n
Washington Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota (8) speaks in a press conference after an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026.<\/p>\n
Tony Gutierrez\/AP Photo\/Tony Gutierrez<\/p>\n
Washington Commanders wide receiver Stefon Diggs (3) celebrates with quarterback Marcus Mariota (8) after making a catch for a touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys in the second half during an NFL football game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026.<\/p>\n
Julio Cortez\/AP Photo\/Julio Cortez<\/p>\n
Washington Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota (8) passes against the Dallas Cowboys in the second half during an NFL football game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026.<\/p>\n
Tony Gutierrez\/AP Photo\/Tony Gutierrez<\/p>\n
ASHBURN, Va. (AP) \u2014 The Washington Commanders have turned to veteran Marcus Mariota under center in what\u2019s become a familiar sight in Ashburn over the past two seasons.<\/p>\n
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Mariota will start Sunday against the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks while starter Jayden Daniels seeks additional treatment for his left elbow which he dislocated on the final play of the first half in Sunday\u2019s 37-20 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.<\/p>\n
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Sunday\u2019s game will mark the 11th that Daniels has missed since the start of the 2025 season because of an injury.<\/p>\n
Losing Daniels is a crushing setback for Washington, especially considering how well he was playing before the injury. But as big a loss as Daniels is, the team remains confident in Mariota.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a good quarterback,\u201d wide receiver Stefon Diggs said. \u201cHe\u2019s been in this league a long time. We\u2019ve got a lot of confidence in him. As a receiver, you just got to go with the right mindset of getting open and catching the ball. It\u2019s still football at the end of the day, and you want to be open for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t the first time Mariota has been in this position. The 32-year-old has played plenty of roles in his 12-year career.<\/p>\n
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Last season, Mariota started eight games for the Commanders, throwing for 1,695 yards, 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions while adding 297 rushing yards. Washington went 2-6 in those games.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou never know when your number\u2019s going to be called,\u201d Mariota said. \u201cI just try to treat every week like I\u2019m the starter. I just mentally prepare that way so that if it does happen, the transition is relatively easy. So for me, nothing\u2019s specifically changed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Against Dallas, he was 11 of 16 for 111 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown pass to Diggs.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarcus came in and did some great things,\u201d Diggs said.<\/p>\n
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The Commanders aren\u2019t asking Mariota to replicate Daniels. The quarterbacks have different strengths, and this week\u2019s practice will focus on crafting a game plan that fits Mariota\u2019s skill set. A full week of practice should help Mariota\u2019s confidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reps, the actual being out there taking the mental \u2014 that\u2019s all real,\u201d he said. \u201cAs the backup, you\u2019re just kind of like trying to envision it, and if your number\u2019s called, you just kind of go off instinct. To get the reps is very helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n
When backup quarterbacks enter the game, sometimes they feel added pressure to make plays and elevate their game \u2014 something Mariota said he dealt with last season. So, when he was forced into the game on Sunday, the quarterback tried to keep things simple.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was coming in trying to just make a play, and I was kind of putting on this Superman cape,\u201d Mariota said. \u201cSometimes when you overstress yourself, you make a mistake. I was kind of looking back on it and reflecting, and I thought last week, being able to come in and not overstress and just like, \u2018Hey, just go and play within the system,\u2019 that was a big step for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Mariota has found the most success when getting the football out quickly. He hopes to continue that trend this week against Seattle, currently the NFL\u2019s top-ranked unit through the first two weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really think of myself as a point guard,\u201d Mariota said. \u201cThe more that I can get these guys the ball, the playmakers, especially faster, the more space they got, the more that they can do with it. I used to joke like, they tackle the guy with the ball, so the more that I can get it out of my hand, by all means.\u201d<\/p>\n
Energy was high in the Commanders locker room on Wednesday following what Diggs called \u201ca great first day of practice.\u201d Losing Daniels is significant, but the Commanders have no time to dwell on it with 15 games remaining.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really hate to say have the next-man-up mindset, it\u2019s so clich\u00e9,\u201d Diggs said. \u201cBut we can\u2019t do anything about it. At this point, we\u2019re trying to move forward. Hopefully (Daniels) can come back at some point this season, but for now, we\u2019re rocking with eight.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Mariota has felt support from his teammates, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got a great group of guys that just are rallying around and supporting one another,\u201d Mariota said. \u201cIt\u2019s never easy when your starting quarterback goes out. Everyone has to kind of lift their game. Guys are really believing in each other, and that\u2019s what counts.\u201d<\/p>\n
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See AP\u2019s full NFL coverage here<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Washington Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota (8) passes against the Dallas Cowboys in the second half during an NFL…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":448329,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[150,152,151,10391,15450,202,196,85770,43369,87668,35333,153807],"class_list":["post-448328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arlington","tag-arlington","tag-arlington-headlines","tag-arlington-news","tag-jayden-daniels","tag-marcus-mariota","tag-package-100502-member-choice-sports-option","tag-product-30599-ap-sports-news-s-wire-only","tag-product-40779-ap-delaware-maryland-sports-only","tag-product-40818-ap-virginia-sports-only","tag-product-40819-ap-washington-dc-sports-only","tag-stefon-diggs","tag-washington-commanders-jayden-daniels-marcus-mariota"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=448328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/448329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=448328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=448328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=448328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}