Commanders' Marcus Mariota exits preseason game vs Dolphins with injury

The Washington Commanders chose not to start quarterback Jayden Daniels for their preseason game against the Miami Dolphins, opting to start backup Marcus Mariota instead.  However, shortly after the game started, Mariota appeared injured and went to the locker room.

Mariota handed the ball off to running back Kaytron Allen when he came up limping even though he was not touched.  The injury potentially could have occurred on the play before when he took a shot after delivering a 22-yard pass to wide receiver Dyami Brown.  Mariota was later spotted heading to the locker room with the assistant head athletic trainer Mark McCracken.

Marcus Mariota non contact injury on handoff. Watch him top left. He’s out of the game.

Was patting his knee when trainers came out. pic.twitter.com/aBDhMWHTL7

— Grant Paulsen (@GrantPaulsen) August 14, 2026

In the four offensive snaps Mariota was on the field before suffering his injury, his only completion was the 22-yard pass to Brown.  He only had two passing attempts.  Rookie quarterback Sam Hartman replaced Mariota and led the Commanders to their first points of the preseason with a 29-yard field goal from kicker Jake Moody.

The severity of Mariota’s injury is unclear at this time.  Hartman and fellow rookie Athan Kaliakmanis are the other two quarterbacks the Commanders have on their roster for the rest of this preseason game.  This should shed some light on Washington’s QB3 battle that has been brewing in training camp between Hartman and Kaliakmanis.

This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Commanders’ Marcus Mariota exits preseason game vs Dolphins with injury