Terry McLaurin was nearly absent from the season opener. How will the Commanders respond?

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ASHBURN, Va. — For all the controversy surrounding Washington’s top receiver and his rather inexplicable absence during the season opener, at least David Blough and Jayden Daniels seem unified in their response.

To sum it up: Washington’s play-caller and quarterback won’t be forcing the ball to Terry McLaurin.

Not against the Eagles last week. Not against the Cowboys this week. And not any week after, for that matter.

“We teach our quarterbacks, if somebody takes something away, we just keep on progressing,” Blough said. “We go down to our next read. You have to tip the hat. [The Eagles] played great. They took some things away that we were trying to attack.”

As for Daniels …

“I’m not gonna force-feed Terry the ball,” the quarterback said. “Still go through my reads. But, when those opportunities present itself for Terry to go make plays, I know he’ll make them.”

The Commanders’ $97 million man ran 35 routes against the Eagles. The result was stunning: two receptions for 14 yards. If it weren’t for two late scoring drives, McLaurin would have been blanked to start the season.

Even more concerning, Daniels barely looked his way. McLaurin was targeted just four times. Pro Football Focus posted its grades for 65 receivers; McLaurin came in 63rd.

All of this from the man who was supposed to be the anchor of the Commanders’ attack. When Blough got the coordinator job, he said, “this thing’s going to be built around how do we get Terry 10 targets a game.”

Now they are recalibrating. Washington won’t be beholden to its best, and most expensive, pass catcher. If defenses take him away, it will look elsewhere.

“I think there’ll be games that he has more than [four targets], and there’ll be some that’ll have less. We’ll kinda see how those games play out,” head coach Dan Quinn said. “But I think there’s a lot of factors that go into that, as opposed to just, every game, [he will get] this many targets.”

McLaurin came into this season finally ready to return to the Pro Bowl player he was in 2022 and 2024. Over that stretch, he surpassed 1,000 yards each year and generated well over 100 targets. By nearly every statistical metric, he was one of the best receivers in the league.

But last year, with his contract status in doubt, he sat out most of training camp to negotiate a new deal. Washington eventually forked over the money on a three-year extension, but the time away hurt his 2025 campaign. He barely worked with Daniels and struggled to find his niche in the offense. He went for a career-low 582 yards and averaged just six targets a game.

But this year he doubled down on his efforts with Daniels in organized team activities and minicamp. They texted nonstop, sending clips of film to each other. They went to Los Angeles near Daniels’ home to throw together.

“It just feels like normal,” McLaurin said. “Business is business. That was last year, but I’ve just been really excited to be a part of the whole process this year.”

Yet, after Week 1, McLaurin was in the same spot he was in last year. In the season opener in 2025, he had two catches for 27 yards against the Giants. It never truly picked up from there.

At his locker Sunday, he tried to deflect the frustrations.

“That happens,” he said with a shrug. “I get a lot of cloud coverage. It’s a good defense. You just try to stay locked in. … I expect better from myself. But, at the same time, they made it hard on us.”

It’s true the Eagles have one of the more complete rosters in the league. The secondary is composed of veterans who have played plenty of snaps together. It is hard to pry open against them.

“It was certainly part of their game plan to say, ‘Hey, this is the person that we wanna prevent from the deep balls down the field.’ And that kinda leans into some of the other players,” Quinn said.

But it’s also true that other defenses will try to replicate the blueprint. And the Commanders signed Stefon Diggs and drafted Antonio Williams to help weather a down McLaurin performance. There are more options for Daniels now.

So, if Dallas opts for the same approach at Philadelphia, will McLaurin be similarly absent?

“You try to have a counter-adjustment ready,” Blough said.

But, if that doesn’t work, Washington won’t feel compelled to force it.

“Philly did a great job with their game plan of taking Terry away and forcing other guys to make plays, which they did,” Daniels said. “And, when those opportunities present itself for Terry to make plays, we gotta make them at the end of the day.”