Terry McLaurin is on track to make the Commanders offense among the NFL’s best

ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — Terry McLaurin accounted for eight catches and 39 yards. during the first two matches The poor run of the season made it look like the Washington Commanders weren’t using it. highest paid players sufficient.

Now we’re almost halfway through the quarterback Jayden Daniels’ rookie yearMcLaurin ranks fourth in the NFL in passing yards with 579 yards and is having the most productive season of his professional career. Him and his team 6-2 It’s his first since entering the league in 2019 and McLaurin has a chance to get the ball even more in the second half as the Commanders chase a play-off spot.

“You leave every game with a guy like that saying, ‘I wish we could get him more.'” offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury he said on Thursday. “He’s a guy, if money is on the table you want to make sure every week the ball goes to him.”

The ball does not go to McLaurin at the beginning of games and for long periods of time. Daniels tried to throw the ball Washington’s best receiver 2. Eight times a week and it didn’t mean much.

What’s the difference since then? “Patience” is on McLaurin’s mind.

“It’s just a matter of being patient and trusting that the work we’ve put in since the offseason will start to show,” McLaurin said. “Patience was very important. “Obviously Jayden came in a lot more prepared than most as a rookie, but it’s also clear there’s still a learning curve.”

Daniels is learning quickly and emerging as the heavy favorite for the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year award. Despite having only a handful of playing experience at this level, the 2023 Heisman Trophy winner appears to have found the balance in not giving McLaurin a hard time.

“When the defense lets it go, that’s how I know when to give him the ball,” Daniels said.

Eighteen different receivers have been targeted more than McLaurin this season, but the 29-year-old, who has played for a dozen QBs during his time in Washington, is not someone who will create a scene to demand more attention.

“He would never want that,” Kingsbury said. “He never turns back and complains. He never gets to the quarterback. He’s just doing his job. And when that guy does it like that, when he blocks and plays off the ball, everybody’s going to line up and that’s the beauty of it.”

That doesn’t mean McLaurin, who makes more than $24 million, doesn’t want to be trusted. Quite the opposite.

“I just want to continue to be the guy we need to play offensively and they trust me to do that,” McLaurin said. “It’s been really fun playing with (Daniels) and the rest of the receiving group that we have because every week it seems like someone else is making a play to help us win, so I know it’s not all on me.”

It was Noah Brown Daniels’ Hail Mary goal To beat Chicago. But on the play just before that, McLaurin caught a 13-yard pass and made it possible by going out of bounds near midfield.

That reception gave him 40 receiving yards on the season and put the Ohio State product on track to surpass 1,200 yards in a season for the first time. It’s no coincidence that this happened Kingsbury is now in office The offensive team with the third best offense in the league and the third highest scorer.

“It allowed me to really open up a part of my game that I felt was always there, which was deep balls down the field,” McLaurin said. “Being able to add that to our offense and my arsenal has been a huge thing for me individually, but I think we’ve done a good job as a collective group of trying to make plays on the field and that’s going to give us plenty of leverage.” There are opportunities to do that.”

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