DALLAS -- Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels was pulled from Sunday's win over the Dallas Cowboys for "mild leg soreness" -- but coach Dan Quinn said that won't impact how he plays in the first round of the playoffs.
Daniels and the Commanders (12-5) play at Tampa Bay (10-7) at 8 p.m. Sunday night in a Wild Card game. Daniels was pulled at halftime of Washington's 23-19 win over the Dallas Cowboys Sunday night. But, Quinn said, this is not an issue that will hinder him vs. the Bucs.
"I'm not concerned," Quinn said.
Daniels has been the presumptive favorite to win offensive rookie of the year. He finished the regular season ranked fourth in quarterback rating at 70.6. He threw for 3,568 yards and 25 touchdowns with only nine interceptions. He also ran for 891 yards -- second among quarterbacks behind Lamar Jackson -- and six touchdowns.
After Sunday's win Quinn said he did not plan on pulling Daniels, but seeing how Dallas was rushing the passer in addition to what he described as "mild leg soreness" he wanted someone who could evade the rush and get outside the pocket. Dallas sacked Daniels four times in the first half and had six overall; Quinn said three of the six sacks could have been avoided.
That has been a strength of Daniels, but the soreness prompted the change to Marcus Mariota, who had a key 33-yard run on fourth-and-1 on the game-winning touchdown drive.
Quinn said he did not remove Daniels simply because the playoffs were in a week. Washington clinched the No. 6 seed with a win so a loss could have hurt its playoff positioning. Dallas sacked Daniels four times in the first half and had six overall; Quinn said three of the six sacks could have been avoided.
"You have to depend on the game to say what's required for the game to go win it," Quinn said. "I thought Dallas was really [getting] upfield and really aggressive. We'd have to get outside the pocket a lot. That's why I decided."
Daniels said the leg soreness did impact his ability to get out of the pocket as the game evolved. But, he said, had it been a playoff game he would have stayed in and "They'd have had to drag me off the field."