Commanders receiver Terry McLaurin has suffered a torn patella tendon in his knee and it out for the season.
Head coach Dan Quinn announced that difficult news during his Tuesday afternoon press conference.
McLaurin will have surgery to repair the injury in the coming days.
The 31-year-old got hurt in the first quarter of Monday night’s 23-17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. He went down running a route, tried to get up and get to the sideline but never got there.
Trainers placed an air cast on McLaurin’s leg and carted him off the field.
It didn’t look good at the time, with an expectation that he would be out a long time. Having him miss the season is particularly brutal.
The Commanders will need Stefon Diggs to be a true No. 1 receiver and to have a relatively deep position group to step up and take on McLaurin’s workload.
While others will fill in, McLaurin’s ability and leadership can’t be replaced.
“It’s a big hit,” Quinn said, “and we’ll lean on a number of guys.”
