Commanders rookie Athan Kaliakmanis replaces injured Marcus Mariota at QB vs. Colts
The Washington Commanders are down another quarterback.
Backup Marcus Mariota, filling in for Jayden Daniels, exited Sunday’s game in London against the Indianapolis Colts with a right knee injury. That sent rookie seventh-round pick Athan Kaliakmanis in for his NFL debut.
Mariota was taken back to the locker room in the first quarter after taking a sack to end the Commanders’ second drive, which ended in a field goal. He was initially questionable to return as Kaliakmanis took the field for the following possession, and Mariota was later downgraded to out at halftime.
NBC Washington’s JP Finlay speculated that tight end Colson Yankoff, who played quarterback in high school, could be the team’s emergency option if Kaliakmanis goes down.
Kaliakmanis’ first snaps were handoffs to Austin Ekeler before he started throwing the ball. He completed 2 of 3 passes for eight yards on his first drive, which resulted in a punt after five plays.
The Commanders led 6-0 after the first quarter as the defense forced a fumble and three punts, leading to two field goals.
The Colts teed off on Kaliakmanis to start the second quarter, as the 23-year-old quarterback took two massive hits by DeForest Buckner and Cam Bynum just after getting passes off. That drive ended in another punt.
Later, the Commanders were stuffed on fourth-and-1 from their own side of the field midway through the second quarter. The Colts used that field position to score their first touchdown of the game on a Jonathan Taylor rush, as Indianapolis took a 7-6 lead with 3:23 left in the first half.
The Colts added a field goal at the end of the second quarter to take a 10-6 lead into halftime. Kaliakmanis went 6 of 12 for 33 yards over four drives at quarterback.
Washington got the ball to start the third quarter, but Kaliakmanis was intercepted on third-and-17 to set up another short field. Taylor capitalized yet again, rushing in his second touchdown of the game to extend Indianapolis’ lead to 17-6.
Kaliakmanis responded to the mistake immediately, though, with his best throw of the game. He unleashed a 47-yard deep ball to Treylon Burks, who ran in for a touchdown to make it 17-13.
This is a developing story and will be updated with more information.
