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John Keim
ASHBURN, Va. — The Washington Commanders’ offense hasn’t looked sharp for much of the summer, but offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury knows why: Too many players are missing, starting with wide receiver Terry McLaurin.
With the season beginning in three weeks, they need the work.
“There hasn’t been a ton of contact with him,” Kingsbury said of McLaurin on Friday. “He’s been here, but he’s been working with trainers, so until he gets back on the grass, that’s when we’ll start building that back up.”
McLaurin, who is seeking a contract extension, is one of four key offensive players for the Commanders who has missed substantial time this summer. It has led to less success than in camp last season. Others are getting opportunities to prove what they can do, but Kingsbury wants to know what the starting group can do together.
“That’s a work in progress,” Kingsbury said of the offense. “Until we get some of these other pieces back, we’re not going to know exactly what we are. … That’s something we have to get to over the next three weeks.”
Washington’s offense ranked fifth in points and seventh in yards last season and have the reigning offensive rookie of the year in quarterback Jayden Daniels. The Commanders traded for wide receiver Deebo Samuel and left tackle Laremy Tunsil and drafted tackle Josh Conerly Jr. in the first round.
But that has not equated to an offense in sync this summer. McLaurin missed the first four days while holding out and was placed on the physically unable to perform list when he reported. Starting right guard Sam Cosmi is recovering from a torn ACL; starting left guard Brandon Coleman hobbled off the field Aug. 2 and hasn’t practiced since.
Also, wide receiver Noah Brown has missed substantial practice time this summer while recovering from a knee injury suffered in the spring.
“You don’t have [the] projected top two outside receivers and both your projected inside pieces at guard,” Kingsbury said. “It’s not going to really give you the chance to jell or really build that relationship until you get everybody else on the grass.”
The key relationship begins with Daniels and McLaurin, who caught a career-best 13 touchdowns last season — 12 from Daniels, who threw 25 overall. McLaurin ranked second in the NFL in touchdown receptions overall and in the red zone with 10. Daniels had a perfect Total QBR of 100 when targeting McLaurin in the red zone and 90.6 overall.
But Kingsbury isn’t focused on last year’s success, and he values on-field work more than sitting in a classroom.
“It’s just time on task, and luckily they had last year to build a lot of rapport and chemistry and Terry understands our system going into Year 2, so that should expedite the process,” Kingsbury said. “But to me, time on task together on the grass is really the only way that you can continue to build.”