The Washington Commanders have a big problem with injuries. And the dreaded Brandon Aiyuk question has surfaced again. Here is the Commanders’ Week 9 injury report versus the Rams, with QB Jayden Daniels working with a makeshift wide receiver room.

With a record of 2-4-1, the Commanders are technically still alive in the NFC East title chase. However, that seems very unlikely to stay realistic. And it’s especially thin if the Commanders lose to the Rams. Given their WR room, it’s hard to imagine an upset is on the horizon.

Maybe the Commanders can lean on the West Coast teams’ struggle with 1 p.m. kickoffs on the East Coast. And the Rams have already proven they don’t know how to travel after Sean McVay’s laughable Australia travel itinerary that likely led to an embarrassing blowout loss to the 49ers.

Commanders injury woes hit front and center

It starts with Treylon Burks not being able to practice yet this week. But that alone tells you where the Commanders are with their receivers. Imagine if someone told you in the preseason that the Commanders would have major concerns about Burks being out of the lineup. You’d have known instantly the team was in dire straits.

Also, Dyami Brown has been limited. Again, this is not something that would have crossed the radar with Terry McLaurin on the field. But McLaurin is gone for the season.

So Jayden Daniels will have Stefon Diggs and Antonio Williams as reasonable receiver targets. After that it’s Van Jefferson and, gasp, Luke McCaffrey.

Let’s pause for a moment. The Commanders spent most of the offseason and preseason with McCaffrey listed as WR2 on the depth chart. This shows this clear inability of GM Adam Peters to build a roster. McCaffrey isn’t even a good WR4. That’s what he will be Sunday against the Rams. Peters deserves a grade of F for the way he constructed this offense. He gets a better mark for the defense. But he has killed his team’s playoff chances in a year where it may only take nine wins to capture the NFC East title.

What does Jayden Daniels have to work with against Rams?

First, Daniels is committed to doing the best he can to save this sinking ship, according to a post on X by Brandon.

“Jayden Daniels postgame after the win vs the Eagles: ‘I’ma give it my all for this city, for this team, make sure I do whatever I can to help this team win. You know, get back to the winning ways but it starts here. We can’t get content, we got a big tough matchup next week vs the Rams so we gotta get prepared’ ”

And there’s good news. Williams is emerging as a true NFL WR2. Chemistry is building between Daniels and Williams, according to commanderswire.com via Yahoo.

“I think every week, it's getting better,” Williams said. “But that comes with time. Every time the ball comes my way, I want to make sure I'm in the right spot. Trust is earned. I'm just trying to earn that.”

And their connection includes Daniels finding Williams when he scrambles.

“You light up,” Williams said. “The ball finds energy. So, just working to get open. A lot of big plays happen on scrambles. And when you got a quarterback like him … that scramble drill is really important to just get open and [have] energy so the ball [finds] you.”

WIll Jayden Daniels be able to lift the Commanders?

However, Daniels will miss Burks if he can’t make a go of it, according to commanderswire.com.

“One, he’s super fast, but just his confidence,” Daniels said. “You can see his confidence continue to grow. I know, just having conversations with him early on in his career, it was rough for him. And obviously it’s, where he was drafted, when he was drafted is, he has the ability to, but coming here is like a fresh start. You can just see his confidence continue to grow from OTAs until up to this point.

“His stride length. He eats up ground so quickly. (And)He has a long stride and he's, like I said, he's frequently athletic. It's like, he puts a lot of stress on the DB. So that kind of works on his advantage. And you gotta get the ball up and down for him or get the ball up early because he can probably outrun the football.”