Commanders rule out Jayden Daniels, confirm Marcus Mariota will start vs. Colts in London Week 4

The Washington Commanders have officially ruled out injured quarterback Jayden Daniels for Week 4's international game against the Indianapolis Colts, head coach Dan Quinn confirmed to reporters Friday. Backup Marcus Mariota will start in his place.

Daniels traveled with the team to London and practiced in a limited fashion this week after suffering a dislocated elbow in his non-throwing arm in Week 2. The injury is to the same elbow that Daniels dislocated and reinjured just last season.

Though the team never gave a specific timetable for Daniels' return, the Commanders declined to place him on injured reserve, a sign they hoped he could return without missing four games. The injury initially raised fears of a long-term absence.

But Commanders general manager Adam Peters revealed last week that "surgery is not on the table." And NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported Sunday that consultations with medical specialists concluded that Daniels is "expected back at three weeks or sooner."

Instead of surgery, Daniels will don an elbow brace to help avoid another dislocation. He shared Thursday that he's not concerned about a potential for reinjury once he's back on the field, saying, "That's what the brace is for. If I had that concern, I would have gotten surgery."

Washington is 1-2 following last week's upset win against the Seattle Seahawks. The Commanders have a chance to build on that success with upcoming games against the Colts and Giants before the schedule gets tougher in Weeks 6-9 with games against the 49ers, Eagles and Rams. They'd certainly like to have Daniels back sooner rather than later, but as Quinn said earlier this week, "We won't put him out there before he's ready."

Mariota played a clean game against the reigning Super Bowl champs in Week 3, completing 19-of-31 pass attempts for 183 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. Now, he gets another opportunity against the Colts, who have allowed the fifth-most passing yards (828) and the fifth-highest passer rating (110.4) this season, per Pro Football Reference.