In the Washington Commanders’ season-opening loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, one stat stood out above all others. Wide receiver Terry McLaurin caught just two passes for 14 yards. His first catch didn't come until the fourth quarter, and he had all four targets.
Remember when David Blough was promoted to offensive coordinator; he promised to give McLaurin 10 targets per game. So, what happened?
It’s not as simple as it seems. Quarterback Jayden Daniels was under intense pressure from start to finish. Philadelphia defensive coordinator Vic Fangio was more aggressive than normal, pressuring Daniels on 50% of his 38 dropbacks. Remarkably, Daniels was sacked only once, but even when he bought time to work through his progressions, there was often
no one open. This was especially true in the first half.
Philadelphia has arguably one of the NFL’s best secondaries, and while Daniels and Blough finally got the offense going in the fourth quarter, the Eagles were determined not to let McLaurin beat them. Fangio often used a safety to bracket McLaurin. Philadelphia cornerbacks Tariq Woolen and Quinyon Mitchell played well, too, but they had some help.
What did Daniels think of McLaurin’s lack of targets?
The quarterback understands how important it is to get the ball to McLaurin, but he also won’t force the issue because he has other talented weapons.
“I think we just have answers for that, and you try to predict what you could see,” Daniels said when asked how the Commanders would handle extra attention on McLaurin.
"You’re not gonna get every answer to the test right, but you try to have predictions of, like, this could happen, and obviously Philly did a great job with their game plan of taking Terry away and forcing other guys to make plays, which they did. And when those opportunities present itself for Terry to make plays, we gotta make them at the end of the day. I gotta give him a good ball, he gotta catch it, a lot has to go on to successfully have a play. But moving forward, man, we just have answers for that, and not gonna force-feed Terry the ball, but still go through my reads, but when those opportunities present itself for Terry to go make plays, I know he’ll make them.”
That’s a very mature response from Daniels. That’s leadership. And there will be headlines out there that will not give you the entire quote. Daniels wasn’t saying it with any slight towards McLaurin. You want your quarterback, especially a young quarterback, to go through his progressions and find the open man. McLaurin is not a diva. He’s a team-first guy and understands this better than anyone.
Sometimes, you just have to tip your hat to the other team. The Eagles made it a point not to allow McLaurin to beat them. It worked. Fortunately for the Commanders, they now have Stefon Diggs and rookie Antonio Williams on the roster to help McLaurin.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Jayden Daniels responds to Terry McLaurin's lack of targets
