Commanders Minicamp Notebook: Curtis Samuel Sits; Another WR Makes His 'Mark'
ASHBURN, Va. - Following Day 2 of the Washington Commanders' minicamp we heard from head coach Ron Rivera, and one of the many topics he discussed with us was a doubling down of sorts on the team's intention to sign receiver Terry McLaurin to a new contract.
Today, we start there for our offensive notebook at Commanders minicamp.
JUST A MATTER OF TIME
For the most part everyone talks about the Terry McLaurin contract situation as a foregone conclusion.
Washington will sign him to a new deal, and the star will return to his team.
Even if the deal gets done before Thursday's practice, it's hard to imagine we'd see McLaurin on the field before training camp at this point, so that'll have to wait regardless.
But there's growing speculation, and even opinions, that the team might look to trade McLaurin if his asking price remains too high.
An idea Commanders coach Ron Rivera directly stood against on Wednesday.
"We've been talking with his folks, probably the last week and working on some stuff and hopefully it'll be taken care of in a matter of time," Rivera said about McLaurin's new contract. "How much time? I don't know. But it is never contentious. I can promise you that much. So, we're feeling pretty good and pretty confident at some point, this will get done.”
It's not the countdown clock everyone wants, but Rivera added, "We're not trading Terry," later on as well.
If the team isn't trading him, they surely aren't cutting him, and McLaurin clearly isn't playing or practicing without a new contract.
Pretty much leaves one option on the table.
BACK, BACK, FORTH AND FORTH
First of all, shoutout to everyone who now has Aaliyah stuck in your head.
But this sub-heading is about Curtis Samuel, unfortunately, and his never-ending dance with being healthy and unhealthy.
Truthfully, this is actually about 2021 and the knee-jerk panic reaction everyone gets when they see the receiver without a helmet or not on the main practice field.
After sitting out the final practice of OTAs, Samuel was back for the first day of minicamp.
On Day 2, he was on the field, but without a lid, and didn't do anything beyond light work.
Rivera didn't speak about any one player's current health status but did say, "Just taking care of guys right now. We had actually a couple guys that were sick, so they missed today, but again, they're excused because of the illness.”
If trends continue, Samuel will once again go forth on Thursday to the practice field. And we can put this to rest until the end of July.
MARKEN'S MARK
Quarterback Taylor Heinicke had a beautiful touchdown pass during the final day of OTA practices last week. Marken Michel was the receiver of that pass and had gotten behind two Washington defenders on his way to the end zone.
Since then, all Michel has done is impress.
On Wednesday he caught another deep ball touchdown from Heinicke and showed great poise as this one was thrown a little late so he had to play back to the ball a bit.
During his release on the big play, Michel put a nasty move on veteran cornerback Corn Elder to blow right by him on his way to the big play.
Later, another late pass found him on the sideline and if it weren't for practice jerseys safety Jeremy Reaves would have knocked Michel into another time zone.
Thankfully, Reaves blew past the receiver without contact, and Michel made a catch that displayed great hands, ball tracking and focus.
Both plays go down as wins for the receiver, even if they aren't the greatest looks for the quarterbacks involved.
One more day of Washington Commanders minicamp, and we get to hear from assistant coaches on Day 3, so make sure you come back on Thursday!
