- 6 minutes ago
Ben Standig from The Last Man Standig Podcast and Substack joins The Kevin Sheehan Show to give his reaction to the Jayden Daniels news of him avoiding surgery & injured reserve for his elbow injury. Ben then dives into the Commanders and Seahawks week 3 matchup and analyzes what the team needs to do in order to get an upset victory and stay above water until Jayden’ return to play in the coming weeks.
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00:00Ben's with us every Monday and Friday. Ben Standig is an excellent reporter covering our football team and he does
00:08it through his sub stack called Last Man Standig.
00:11I would encourage all of you to subscribe. It's a couple of bucks a month legitimately and it's totally worth
00:17it.
00:18So let's just start with your reaction to the news this morning that no injured reserve, no surgery, and he's
00:28going to be back at some point.
00:29And I do want to ask you when you think he'll be back by, but go ahead.
00:35Yeah, I mean, look, this is a really fascinating moment for this organization in terms of what makes the most
00:43sense for them going forward.
00:44The season is far too early to just be like, well, if we have a debate, you know, just to
00:50automatically lean into the surgery unless the doctors say so.
00:53Because there's just an incredible amount of time, even at 0-2, it's hardly, the season's hardly over.
00:58And if Caden Daniels is able to come back and, you know, not have any more, not, maybe there's a
01:05potential recurrence for the dislocation, but not like cause like massive damage or anything, then I totally get it.
01:11And obviously that's great news for all involved.
01:13He wants to play.
01:13They need him to play.
01:14We all get that, all that whole thing.
01:17I will just be curious to see what plays out here.
01:20I mean, putting aside, like, what happens if they go 0-5 or something, right?
01:24Does anything change there in terms of the equation about what to do with him?
01:29Maybe not, but that's something, like, to wonder.
01:32I know you were just saying, like, when do I think he could come back?
01:35Yeah, it sounds like you think he's not coming back until after the 49er game, then, and after the bye
01:40week.
01:40Well, I mean, obviously, you know, like everybody has said, knowing the imaging and what's there exactly, who can say.
01:48Just based on last time, he was kept out of three games, but it was four weeks due to a
01:52bye.
01:53So if it's four weeks again, that takes you through week six, and then the bye is week seven.
01:59So just based on that history, that's kind of where I'm at until I'm told otherwise.
02:04But we'll see.
02:05I mean, again, you know, we all know to what degree that anything is, you know, what kind of damage
02:12is there beyond just the dislocation.
02:15You know, look, I think there were some indications they were going this way.
02:18Yeah, I've been – I kept asking, wait, why are you not bringing in a veteran quarterback, and why are
02:25you not even discussing it, as Quinn said, which I don't completely buy, but okay.
02:30You know, like, you must think that he's coming back sooner than later.
02:34That still wouldn't, in my view, change the need for having a veteran.
02:37But, okay, if you think he's going to be back sooner than later, then maybe you think you'd get by
02:41with Mariota and hope he plays.
02:44So, yeah, I mean, it seems like it's very possible he could be back before the bye, but just based
02:49on what we know in terms of his own history, I'm sort of leaning into the he's not back before
02:54the bye.
02:55We'll see him in week eight against the Eagles.
02:59Okay, I've got the sooner than that on the sooner or later over-under, or sooner or later.
03:08For what it's worth, I feel like the smell test is on my side here.
03:11You know what? I think you're right now.
03:13I think that just the week-to-week, you know, mention by Schefter would be a bit of a tell
03:22that it's sooner than November 1st.
03:24Because essentially, you're saying November 1st because of the way the next, you know, four games, three games, four games
03:32go, and then the bye week after that.
03:34And then they have 11 left, and that's the only – and by the way, it could be 0-6
03:39at that point.
03:40Wait, are you saying five and back by San Francisco?
03:44No, you said five.
03:46Yeah, no, I'm just saying that, like, if they're 0-5, even if they were originally planning on bringing him
03:51back for San Francisco, does the 0-5 change anything in their head?
03:54You know, whatever calculus is being made, that type of deal.
03:57But, yeah, I mean, look, we'll – I mean, I'm not expecting – we're going to talk to Dan Quinn
04:03here in a bit.
04:04I'm not expecting much out of him that we didn't already get from Peters.
04:08So, you know, at some point it would be great if we –
04:13That was a little bit inside, but I got it.
04:16You're not expecting Dan Quinn to give you the specifics on the injury and what the doctor said?
04:24And do you even think we'll get no injured reserve, no surgery from him?
04:32You have to get confirmation of that because Peters said it with the junkies.
04:37He didn't say it to you guys.
04:39Sure.
04:40I imagine the question of some form will be asked, and I imagine he'll say some version of, well, you
04:45know, Adam talked about this today and dot, dot, dot.
04:48So, yeah, I mean, I personally think that – and I talked about this with some of the reporters earlier
04:52today.
04:53Like, I think they would be better served if they would bring out somebody from the medical community to talk
04:57to us.
04:58They don't have to get into the specifics of what Jaden is going through because of HIPAA, but you could
05:02explain sort of the – like what – you know, explain to us what's possible here
05:07with a general dislocation can – you know, what's the potential for more damage or tell us some specifics here
05:13if they're willing to.
05:14I just think that would be helpful because, you know, Dan Quinn is not a doctor.
05:18So, like, just like when you and I – well, you're probably more smart about these things than I am,
05:23but, like, I always have to preface, like, oh, look, I'm talking out of my you-know-what when I'm
05:27talking about medical stuff.
05:28So, I just – yeah, I don't know.
05:30I just had the same guy I had on earlier this week just on right before you.
05:36And he said, look, if this is the plan, it just probably didn't reveal any new damage or worsening damage.
05:45And he said the nature of the dislocation, that play, this was different than him running at full speed, being
05:53chased down by a 280-pound D lineman who falls on him and he dislocates it.
05:58So, it's very possible that it really was a dislocation, which, of course, it was, but that there wasn't a
06:05lot of damage.
06:05I also asked him, and I said, if it does happen again and he does opt for surgery, what's the
06:11recovery timeline?
06:12And he basically said three to six months.
06:14So, what are we talking about here?
06:16You know, if it's the end of the season or in the middle of the season, if it happens again.
06:21And he also believes that even if he doesn't do it again between now and the end of the season,
06:27that he would guess that they would actually have surgery at the end of the season on it anyway, just
06:34to, you know, eliminate that as a problem moving forward.
06:37Yeah.
06:40Go ahead.
06:41No, I think that's the other question.
06:43I had somebody on my podcast, you had somebody on, I know others did as well, and the timelines are
06:48kind of all over the place, depending on the recovery timelines, depending on the nature of the deal.
06:53I get you're saying, like, well, if they're letting him play, then it must not be the worst-case scenario.
06:57But then again, that's where it becomes, well, what happens if he gets hurt again?
07:01You know, I know you can't, these things can't be predicted, but, you know, if it is, if the timeline
07:06is more than what you just said, three to six, then you better go sooner than later, because if you
07:10wait until January, you know, even, you know, that still cuts into pretty much everything all the way up to
07:15training camp, potentially.
07:16So we'll see.
07:17I mean, again, this is where we're all talking about things we don't know about, but hopefully they do, and
07:25hopefully they're making the best decision both for him, for the organization.
07:28But that's why this is so interesting, because the best decision for the long-term player health, which is very
07:34important, is not necessarily the best news for the organization in terms of the short term.
07:39Because another season, like, you know, you end up with another five-win season, and there could be, you know,
07:44changes being made.
07:45On the other hand, he comes back out there, plays, gets hurt again.
07:48I could see changes happening as well.
07:50So I'm not, this is not about people being on the hot seat.
07:52This is just about, if the conclusion is X, you know, he plays, gets hurt, he doesn't play, they lose.
07:58You know, there could be the positives, of course.
08:00He plays and they win, not arguing that.
08:02But, you know, there's still many different variables here.
08:04That's what makes this a really interesting decision.
08:06Well, I think, you know, today, for people like me anyway, and I think people like you, I'm thrilled.
08:13I'm glad that this was the conclusion to this.
08:16I personally think it'll be sooner rather than later.
08:18You think Quinn, by the way, would rule him out for next week if you ask him if he'd rule
08:23him out for next week, today?
08:25Because I don't think...
08:26I'm guessing no, just because they'll play the game of, hey, Indianapolis, you got to study for two guys.
08:33I'm on record as Giants game, worst case, he's back by.
08:40But anyway, the point that I was going to make is, you know, today is a day, I think for
08:47many, that it's like, okay, deep exhale.
08:50He's going to play.
08:51Sure, there are some questions about whether or not it really makes sense or doesn't.
08:55But, I mean, nobody really knows unless you were the doctor looking at the elbow and what all of those
09:02doctors said.
09:04And even the guy that was on with me suggested there could have been a dissenting view among all of
09:10the specialists,
09:11and they're just going with the one that they want, or maybe the majority, who knows.
09:16But we don't know what it's going to look like when he's back next week, the week after, or, you
09:21know, against Philadelphia on November 1st.
09:23We don't know if he's going to be limited by the brace, how much limitation there will be.
09:28And look, at this point, and I'm certainly not bailing in any way, shape, or form on Durante Jones
09:37or the idea that the defense is going to be much improved this year versus last year.
09:41But the most recent impression was alarming, alarming how bad the defense was Sunday against Dallas.
09:48And we know at the very least they've got a back-end issue defensively.
09:54And for it to pay off, meaning he comes back, and let's say he's not limited and he can play
10:02like Jaden Daniels,
10:03man, at this point, the defense is the biggest question mark.
10:06And I'm concerned, you know, that it ends up being improved but not improved enough.
10:13Where are you after Sunday on where we are defensively, and specifically if Durante Jones will pull the trigger on
10:20anything
10:21and make a personnel change or two?
10:25Yeah, I mean, the notion of communication is an issue.
10:31It's so fascinating in that you can go back and look at Jack Del Rio.
10:35Exactly.
10:36The wit.
10:37Like, everybody has made these terms when things don't go well, and it's a good catch-all.
10:41Yeah, it's a good catch-all.
10:42It doesn't throw anybody under the bus, including themselves.
10:45I always think to myself, you know, what Durante Jones said, that maybe it's to pull back.
10:51Some of the things they're having these guys do, to which I always think, okay, there's no rookies here in
10:56the secondary.
10:56It's not like Sonny Stiles is there.
10:58And you're like, okay, we've got to hold it up.
11:00Like, these are all veteran players.
11:01I don't – like, what does it mean you have to take things off their plate?
11:05Are they not adept enough to do it?
11:07Are you not teaching it right?
11:08Like, that always seems weird to me.
11:10The issue should just be maybe we change something, not take off the plate.
11:14But maybe it's just words.
11:16It's not what is actually happening.
11:18He just had to say something.
11:19Who can say?
11:20But, yeah, look, it's no doubt.
11:21I mean, I think the biggest fear we all had was it's clear that the pass rush, they've got more
11:26options.
11:27They've got a deeper group.
11:28We saw in the first game making plays with the line of scrimmage, et cetera, all there.
11:33But what happens when the pass rush doesn't get home?
11:36And, you know, sometimes it's just the other team give them credit, right?
11:39Well, we saw what happened last week where, you know, CeeDee Lamb is just getting wide open wherever he wants,
11:44and Prescott's 26 of 31.
11:48And that's the real concern.
11:50And the issue is, you know, even if Trey Amos is back in week five, it's not like –
11:54I mean, the guy hasn't played football since week 10 last year.
11:58Like, who knows where he's at just from terms of game reps and like that.
12:02And he also wasn't Daryl Green when he was playing.
12:04He's good.
12:04I have the promising.
12:05But, you know, what are we talking about?
12:07So, there are definitely a lot of questions there.
12:09You know, are they going to make a change with Mikey Sanders still being the most obvious change to make?
12:15I mean, they're certainly reasonable to think so.
12:18You know, last year at a different spot.
12:20But it's when they – you know, this was the week they swapped out the two starting guards.
12:24Right.
12:25And made that change, including Brandon Coleman, who was, like Sanders still, a day two pick in 2024.
12:32So, it's really possible you've got to get Rasul Douglas, who's a vet.
12:35You know, he's got to give you some good size, et cetera.
12:38I don't think that he's going to help you, though, with Jackson Smith and Jigba,
12:42because he's running more inside, and Douglas will be more of an outside guy.
12:45So, that's a whole separate issue.
12:47But you would think that they've got to make some kind of changes in terms of the secondary.
12:53And if you want to just tell me that it is schematic, okay.
12:58You know, at some point, we can't just keep going communication, and we've got to take something off the plate.
13:02Like, at some point, what's the fix?
13:04How does this coaching staff help these guys, rather than we keep saying, hey, there's some communication issue?
13:09Sure.
13:11All right.
13:11Well, they're not going to face a lot of teams that look like Dallas offensively, but Shahid, Cup, and, of
13:19course, JSN, that's one of them, depending on who plays quarterback.
13:25Hey, did the team here from the league, have they said anything, that they got anything back from the league
13:31on the De'Ami touchdown that was not, you know, overturned with the challenge?
13:38I know it was a topic at the beginning of the week.
13:40It's been less of a one since, so I have not asked about it since.
13:45And Dan Quinn obviously talked Wednesday, hasn't talked since.
13:48And I don't know.
13:49I did ask one of the players, and they said they hadn't heard.
13:51I think they've all just moved on with it.
13:53But, no, at least I've not heard anything definitive about that.
13:57Maybe it's something to gas Quinn off on the side once he's done or something.
14:01But, no, I haven't heard.
14:04All right, running back-wise, what do you expect this week?
14:07Rashad White got more snaps than Krosky Merritt.
14:10Do you think it's a continuation of that?
14:12And what about Katron Allen?
14:13Could his snaps increase?
14:18Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of this is going to be game flow, right?
14:20Dallas was winning pretty quickly by two scores.
14:23And, you know, once you start trailing, if you think you need to get into some sort of a catch
14:28-up mode.
14:29And, you know, I know it was only one score at halftime, and, you know, Mariotta came out and looked
14:33pretty good to start the third.
14:34But, you know, when you're having to play a little bit more catch-up, you know, it almost seems like
14:38once you sort of get in that mode, you don't get out of it.
14:40And Rashad White gives you that better option.
14:43I think if the goal is, which probably should be for a lot of these games, control the clock, you
14:48know, which means run the ball, then you would think that Bill's your better option.
14:51I know he had the fumble issue over his last year and change.
14:55But, you know, that aside, he gives you the better option.
14:58Case run out, sure, maybe.
15:00I mean, obviously, hopefully he hasn't run into his own guys anymore.
15:02He has bad luck with hitting Cosme like that, unfortunately.
15:05But, yeah, it's really possible.
15:07I mean, again, he's, you know, I think that comes at the expense of Bill, and I don't know that
15:13that's a move that they're necessarily ready to make, most likely.
15:17But, look, I think all bets are off at this point, right?
15:20If they see a weakness in Seattle's defense that's up the middle, then maybe Kay Tron Allen is the better
15:26bet for that.
15:28But, you know, I think.
15:29There's not much of a weakness up the middle.
15:32Leonard Williams, Jim, is pretty good.
15:35Yeah, 100%.
15:37And I think also, like, you know, one of the things with Bill is that he's got, of the running
15:41backs, probably the higher game-to-game ceiling, right?
15:45Because of his ability to make the explosive plays.
15:47And, you know, until the offense proves more consistent otherwise, and especially with Mariota in there now instead of Jaden
15:52Daniels,
15:53I think you're probably going to lean towards that upside as much as you can.
15:57More 50-50.
15:59And then just game flow depends.
16:00Could flip it towards one or the other with Allen still being sort of more in reserve.
16:05But, you know, we understand why they drafted him.
16:08And if they think that's an area they can take advantage of the way he runs, then, you know, so
16:12be it.
16:13My friend Connor texted me, said, you keep mentioning Leonard Williams.
16:18He good, but Jaron Reed and Byron Murphy might even be better up front.
16:24Yeah, they're really, really stout.
16:26All right, injury-wise, we're talking to Ben Standing, of course, at Ben Standing on X.
16:32So we know that Cross and Jaden are both out.
16:36Nick Cross and Jaden Daniels are both out.
16:38Are you expecting Cosme, Luvu, and Akonquo to be out as well?
16:43Well, at the start of practice just now, for stretching, none of those last three guys were out there.
16:49Kinlaw was out there, but not Cosme, Luvu, or Akonquo.
16:52So that doesn't bode well.
16:53It's obviously possible they came out after we left.
16:56They're, you know, possible they don't practice at all and still play.
16:59But, you know, just based on how these things tend to go, I'm not feeling particularly positive about seeing those
17:05guys out there.
17:08And Cosme would be, you know, they're all valuable to varying degrees, but losing Cosme, to me, would be pretty
17:13massive.
17:14We had talked about the Seattle's defensive front and how imposing they are.
17:19Cosme's also, of course, their best lineman.
17:21And the rest of the group is, you know, still a bit shaky or at least uncertain for those of
17:26us on the outside.
17:27So not having Cosme would be huge, not to mention whether they're starting Wiley or Lucas Patrick or at guard
17:34in his place.
17:36The bench at that point becomes preposterously thin.
17:39Yeah.
17:39I mean, Goulbin's, the backup, was in there the other day at guard.
17:45I'd be stunned if that's where they went with.
17:47But I'm not convinced he's playing more than center, other than just like that game was, you know, effectively over.
17:53And he just had to get off the field with 12 or two minutes.
17:56Sure.
17:57All right.
17:58Keys to a win and a prediction.
18:02Yeah.
18:03I mean, it's looking more and more, I guess, that Sam Darnold is probably going to play.
18:07I was thinking, like, if it is Glock who has played well.
18:10But, you know, he's still a general backup quarterback.
18:14And, you know, those guys can, you know, pretty uneven in terms of their performances.
18:18But if it's Darnold, I mean, I think the only thing you can really hope for, you've got to win
18:22the turnover battle.
18:22I understand when the team has zero or three, two games, that's, you know, getting one turnover would be good,
18:28let alone winning it.
18:29But this is what happens when you are the team that's got a lot of injuries.
18:32You're the underdog.
18:33You're playing a team that's, no, not just the Super Bowl champs, but they've come out hungry as hell so
18:38far this season.
18:39And you're going to have to win that battle.
18:42I think you also have to make it such that Jackson Smith and Jigba is just not simply the guy
18:47who's just murdering you all over the field the way C.D. Lamb was last week.
18:51The way we saw, you know, Atlanta last night had their two best offensive players in B. John Robinson and
18:55Drake London dominate.
18:57You know, you've got to do sort of what happens in the NBA sometimes.
19:01Let the supporting cast beat you.
19:03Again, this is much, much, much easier said than done because nobody's slowing him down.
19:07But these are the things that are going to have to happen.
19:09I do think Mariota, you know, say whatever you want, but Mariota is aggressive.
19:14He's not afraid.
19:15He's not timid.
19:16He's not afraid to throw the ball down the field.
19:18And I think that McLaurin and Diggs are kind of quarterback proof, at least to this point.
19:23I think the way they run routes, their precision, their hands, all those things, I think they'll be fine.
19:29And that's what gives you hope that the offense can still be productive.
19:32But, you know, based on what you've seen from the back end and knowing that what Smith and Jigwood can
19:37do, you know, the fact that Shahid and, you know, Cup are certainly viable players, you know, it makes you
19:44very nervous.
19:45Seattle also doesn't have much of a run game right now.
19:48So maybe we've seen Washington's run defense be pretty good.
19:50Maybe that gives them the chance to put an extra defender sort of on the back end rather than having
19:55to sort of crowd the box.
19:58So, yeah, I mean, I hate to be like, well, don't make as many mistakes as the other team.
20:03But honestly, in this stage, that's kind of where they're at.
20:06It is the home opener.
20:07Maybe there's a little extra motivation or extra juice or whatever for that.
20:11And professional teams win games.
20:12They're not going to go winless or anything like that.
20:15But, yeah, I mean, they've got to get the breaks.
20:17They've got to make their own luck.
20:19They've got to get some turnovers.
20:20And then just hope Seattle's maybe looking past this a little bit.
20:23All right.
20:23So prediction, quickly.
20:25Oh, I mean, I'm going to have to go Seattle.
20:28I'll make it less painful of the score from last year.
20:32But something on the lines of like 31-20.
20:36Talk to you on Monday.
20:37Thanks.
20:38Yeah, man.
20:38Ben Standing, everybody.
20:39myself, buddy.urtccoli