Commanders star WR sounds uncertain about injury after his return game

KANSAS CITY – In his return to action on Monday night, Washington Commanders receiver Terry McLaurin brought in four passes from quarterback Marcus Mariota for 54 yards and one score, the only touchdown his team recorded all night, it turned out.

“It’s just great to be out here with my teammates, honestly,” the Commanders star said after the game.

A Sore Return

McLaurin had been missing since Week 4 after suffering a quad injury in the team’s Week 3 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. With his return, there was a sense of hope that if quarterback Jayden Daniels could come back from his hamstring injury in Week 9, perhaps it would be enough to help salvage the season.

Of course, that’s if neither player suffers a setback. And after leaving the game early, it was only natural that he’d be asked about the injury and how it fared in the 28-7 loss Washington suffered at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Jan 26, 2025; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin (17) reacts after a play with wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus (14) against the Philadelphia Eagles during the first half in the NFC Championship game at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

'Day by Day' Uncertainty

“It’s all right,” McLaurin said. “I’m just trying to take it day by day, you know, just monitoring it. It’s a little sore and everything.”

If those don’t read like the words of a man confident that his return to play isn’t going to bring some residual recovery needs, that’s because it might.

“I don’t really know yet, really,” McLaurin responded when asked about whether or not he tweaked the injury a bit during a diving catch in the second half of the game, which of course produced more questions about his near future.

“I’m just going to continue to take it day by day and just see how it feels in the morning,” McLaurin said. He also added, however, that “anytime I could just be out here fighting for the team, I’m always going to put myself out there.”

Another Week of Worry

Maybe it's the words themselves, or the fact that 2025 has been a season of any situation that can go sideways from a health standpoint, doing just that, but there’s a little spike of concern hearing McLaurin so unsure about the state of his own body.

Like it or not, not like it wasn’t going to happen anyway, we’re likely about to enter another week of keeping tabs on McLaurin’s practice reports specifically to gauge whether or not the Commanders will have the services of their No. 1 receiver in Week 9 when the Seattle Seahawks come to town as the first challenger in back-to-back home games that have suddenly become incredibly important games coming off the heels of a three game losing streak.

If, for some reason, either McLaurin or Daniels is unable to play on Sunday night, it’ll extend the time frame to seven weeks since we last saw the duo on the playing field together.

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