When a player gets hurt what happens on an NFL sideline? And, to be more specific, when the starting quarterback and future of the franchise sustains an injury, what does the head coach and offensive coordinator do? Chris Russell asked former Washington HC Jay Gruden about that exact scenario after Commanders rookie QB Jayden Daniels went down after the first series in Sunday's win over the Carolina Panthers.
First off, how hard is it to see when a player suffers an injury, but does not come out of the game right away?
"Yeah, it's hard because you're just calling plays," Gruden told Russell. "You're assuming if he stays in the game he's ok. He did go down awkwardly, that was a weird slide, I thought he was gonna outrun everybody for a touchdown, but then he kinda slowed up and slid and fell on him awkwardly. That was a little nerve-wracking. Hopefully, it's not a bad deal.
"As a play-caller, you're assuming he's ok until he comes out. And at the end of that series, he was visibly sore, and so he came out and enter Marcus Mariota who played excellent."
For injuries in which a player doesn't stay down or come right to the sideline, Gruden said the coaches have to count on the doctors and trainers to do their job and "we can't make decisions on whether or not people can stay in the game or come out of the game, we rely on the player and the trainers."
"If a player says he's hurt and can't play, he doesn't play. If a trainer says he can't go, he can't go," the former head coach said. "If a trainer says nothing and the player says nothing, we're assuming they're good to go. So we just have to rely on them. And I think [Washington on Sunday] did a good job."
After Daniels exited, the veteran deputy dismissed the hapless Carolina side throwing for 205 yards on 18-for-23 passing with two touchdowns.
Gruden pointed to the play-calling of Kliff Kingsbury not letting his foot off the gas and remaining aggressive as a sign that Washington was already preaparing for a worse-case scenario for Daniels: "Kliff said, 'hell with it, let's slam on the gas, see what Marcus can do, because we're gonna need him.' They might need him to play more than one game and he's gotta get going and he's gonna have to play and we have to challenge him and he's gonna have to make these plays if Jayden can't go next week."
And Mariota being the backup is a help for Washington this week as he has a "similar skillset" to Daniels which will make game planning for the Chicago Bears on Sunday easier for Kingsbury and company, Gruden said.
"Obviously, I think the game plan will be the game plan and if Jayden can play, great and if not, Mariota has the skillset – not quite the same skillset, obviously, [similar] running ability with the zone reads and the pin-pull option plays they're having so much success with – I think they'll be fine," Gruden told Russell. "Kliff's gonna come up with a gameplan like if Jayden was playing, and if he can't play Marcus will take over."
Listen to the complete conversation on the audio player above!