Jayden Daniels’ Elbow Injury: What We Know So Far

There has been plenty of speculation surrounding Jayden Daniels’ latest elbow injury, particularly after the rather horrible-looking video of the incident began circulating.

With the Commanders now waiting for further medical assessments, I decided to get an opinion from someone who could provide a little more insight into what we were actually looking at.

I spoke with Nicholas DiNubile MD (@drnickUSA), an American orthopaedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist, who has worked as a team physician and is also a bestselling author and speaker. Dr DiNubile has advised two US Presidents and is well known in the United States for his work in sports medicine.

I sent him the video of Daniels' injury and asked for his initial thoughts, with the obvious caveat that he has not examined Daniels and does not have access to the quarterback's scans or full medical history.

His first observation was that this appeared to be a non-contact injury. Daniels essentially falls onto his outstretched hand and, as he does so, the elbow appears to bow inward. From the video, Dr DiNubile believes there is concern about damage to the medial, or inner, ligament of the elbow.

That ligament is particularly important. It is the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL), the same ligament that is commonly injured by baseball pitchers and can require the procedure widely known as Tommy John surgery. It is also worth remembering that Daniels suffered a similar elbow injury last season, which raises the possibility that the ligament may already have been stretched or partially damaged.

The initial reports that Daniels' X-rays were negative for a fracture are obviously positive news, but according to Dr DiNubile, the more important issue now is determining the condition and stability of the ligament.

That is likely to involve an MRI to look at the ligament itself, while further stress X-rays could be used to determine whether the elbow is moving abnormally. Essentially, doctors can compare the injured elbow with the opposite side to establish how much movement or looseness there is.

And this is where the situation becomes much more significant for Daniels and the Commanders.

If the ligament is damaged but the elbow remains stable, there is potentially a route back through rehabilitation, with Dr DiNubile suggesting that a partial tear or sprain could mean a recovery measured in weeks rather than months. A brace could also potentially be used, and the fact that it is Daniels' non-dominant arm may be helpful.

If, however, the elbow is unstable, the situation changes considerably. An unstable ligament may require surgery to repair it, and Dr DiNubile's view is that this would most likely mean Daniels' season is over.

What concerns him is that this has happened again. Repeat injury to the same structure is relatively unusual and, in his view, raises the possibility that there is an underlying instability in the elbow which needs to be properly assessed.

Importantly, Dr DiNubile was not suggesting that he could diagnose Daniels from a video. His assessment is based only on what he could see and the information currently available, so the MRI, physical examination and any stress testing will tell us considerably more.

His initial impression from watching the injury was nevertheless that things do not look particularly promising, although he is hoping, like everyone else connected with Washington, that the damage proves to be less serious than it appears.

For the Commanders, therefore, the immediate question isn't simply whether Jayden Daniels has injured his elbow again. It is whether that elbow is stable.

That distinction could ultimately determine whether Washington is dealing with an injury that sidelines its quarterback for a period of weeks, or one that could bring his 2026 season to an abrupt end.

For now, we wait for the scans and the medical assessments, because they will provide the answers that a video simply cannot.

My thanks to Nicholas DiNubile MD for taking the time to speak with me and for providing his professional perspective on Daniels' injury. Hopefully, when we know more, the news will be considerably better than the initial footage suggests.