Expert details how latest injuries to Jayden Daniels, JJ McCarthy could hamper their abilities

Jayden Daniels isn't expected to miss much time if any but he may not look like his usual self right away Fresh off an Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign Daniels is dealing with a sprain in his knee that Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn disclosed will keep him out of practice until Friday The Commanders split each of their first two games handling the New York Giants - in Week before the Green Bay Packers took care of business with a - triumph three days later CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS COM While the Philadelphia Eagles remain the favorite to win the NFC East the Commanders should be in the mix as long as Daniels is healthy However Tom Christ a physician of physical therapy and founder of Fantasy Injury Band revealed that Daniels' injury could show on the stat sheet even if he's on the field So Daniels is really compelling They are just vaguely labeling it a sprain not telling us what tissue is sprained If you watch the video he lands on his shin with his knee nearly fully flexed which is a common way to get a PCL injury and by their terminology it likely is Grade which is not terrible at all You can rehab that and return to play Christ disclosed in a modern interview with Fox News Digital But what we see historically is the first couple games the athlete looks a little bit slow a little bit hesitant to cut off that knee and a little bit unstable Daniels is obviously a massive rushing threat so I would be surprised if he has the same stat-line running the ball and the same effect running the ball the first couple games after he plays Good news is it's his left knee so it's not going to affect his ability to push off his right leg to throw the ball So can still be effective but seemingly not quite as effective on the ground PHYSICIAN OF PHYSICAL THERAPY EXPLAINS WHAT TURF TOE AUTHENTICALLY IS WHY IT MAY COST JOE BURROW REST OF THE SEASONDaniels rushed for yards the ninth-most ever by a quarterback and the most of by a rookie QB As for Minnesota Vikings starter J J McCarthy his first year as a starter is not off to an ideal start After missing his rookie season with a torn meniscus he is now dealing with an ankle sprain He too may still deal with several lingering effects The time frame of two-to-four weeks is pretty consistent with a Grade high-ankle sprain where there is particular what we call tissue laxity or instability in the ankle Christ mentioned That should be able to get under control but what can happen there especially with it being his right ankle is it can be just a little less firm when he pushes off to throw the ball So we'll see how long he's truly out for I believe they have a bye week somewhere in there Week so a lot of people are speculating he may not return till after that which if that's the affair he should be fine by that point but if they do try to really speed things up and it's more like a two-week absence he may have particular issues pushing off that back leg initially when he's throwing Follow Fox News Digital s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter