Marcus Mariota Hurts His Knee in London, and a Commanders Rookie Takes Over

Rookie Athan Kaliakmanis went 6 of 12 for 33 yards in his first NFL half; the Colts led 10-6 at halftime.

Marcus Mariota, the Washington Commanders' fill-in for Jayden Daniels, hurt his right knee in the first quarter against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday in London. That handed the offense to Athan Kaliakmanis, a 23-year-old seventh-round pick out of Rutgers who'd never taken an NFL snap.

Mariota went down on a sack that closed Washington's second possession, a drive that still ended in a field goal, and he was taken back to the locker room, NBC Los Angeles reported. The team listed him as questionable to return, and the rookie ran the very next series.

Mariota was already the stand-in. With Daniels sidelined, NFL.com's preview pitched the game as Mariota's shot at a second straight win in relief of the starter.

He'd made a decent start on it. Both of his drives ended in field goals, the defense took the ball away once and made the Colts punt three times, and Washington led 6-0 after one quarter. The rookie's first four drives didn't score.

Washington eased Kaliakmanis in with handoffs to Austin Ekeler before letting him throw. He hit on two of his first three passes for eight yards, and the drive fizzled into a punt five plays in.

The Colts weren't interested in easing anybody in. Early in the second quarter, DeForest Buckner and Cam Bynum each flattened the 23-year-old a beat after he'd released the ball, and that series ended in a punt, too.

The game turned midway through the quarter, when Washington went for it on fourth-and-1 on its own side of the field and got stuffed. Indianapolis used the short field for a Jonathan Taylor touchdown run, from the back NFL.com had described as stuck in an early-season slump, to go up 7-6 with 3:23 left in the half. A Colts field goal just before the break made it 10-6.

Kaliakmanis finished the half 6 of 12 for 33 yards across four drives.

Washington's depth chart behind him is thin enough that NBC Washington floated tight end Colson Yankoff, who was a quarterback in high school, as the emergency option if the rookie gets hurt, too.

Source: nbclosangeles.com, retrieved October 4, 2026. Other sources: nfl.com.