BALTIMORE — Terry McLaurin was supposed to run a slant. But on fourth and goal from the 6-yard line early in the fourth quarter Sunday, the Washington Commanders needed a touchdown to stay in the game, and the wide receiver knew the defense might anticipate that route. So in the huddle, he told his quarterback to prepare for a potential audible.
By Sam Fortier
At the line of scrimmage, McLaurin saw Baltimore Ravens cornerback Brandon Stephens with “heavy inside leverage,” meaning he couldn’t run the slant. McLaurin had to trust Jayden Daniels saw it, too.
At the snap, McLaurin stepped inside, selling the slant hard, and Daniels started to throw. It’s unclear whether he was pump-faking or actually about to throw the slant. Either way, he pulled the ball back, and with his feet parallel, he lofted a perfect throw to the end zone for a fade-like route. McLaurin twisted away from Stephens and snagged it for a touchdown.
In the end, the score might seem cosmetic. It didn’t prevent the Commanders from losing, 30-23, and it won’t fix the lackluster defense or rushing attack. But in the big picture, it was one of the game’s most important plays because, while it’s typical for a team six games into a rebuild to have glaring holes — such as its cornerback situation — it’s not guaranteed for a rookie quarterback and his No. 1 wide receiver to develop advanced trust and chemistry so quickly.
After the touchdown, their second of the game, Daniels and McLaurin met, touched the crowns of their helmets and had a moment.
“Of all the plays we’ve had — I know the one in Cincinnati was huge; we’ve had some big plays — but that one …” McLaurin said before pausing. “Honestly, he read my body language. He read the leverage of the [defensive back], and we were on the same page. And for us to connect on a fourth-down play and just give us a chance to stay in the game, that was huge. So that’s why I was just looking him dead in his eyes — and that’s exciting for me because you start to feel that connection growing between you and your quarterback.”
Daniels has had elite rapport with his No. 1 receivers since Pop Warner. Darren Jones at Cajon High, Brandon Aiyuk at Arizona State and Malik Nabers at LSU. They all praise him for learning their games and giving them opportunities to make plays.
“He will become your best friend,” Jones said last summer. “Like, ‘I need you, and you need me.’ So it’s like … every practice, we’re going to run routes. We’re going to work on this or work on that.”
Jones quickly added that Daniels was never transactional, never using a receiver for his skills, and that their partnership was effective in part because Daniels genuinely cared about him. Aiyuk and Nabers have echoed those sentiments over the years, and in March, at LSU’s pro day, Nabers said playing with Daniels was “like second nature. He knows what I’m doing, and I know what he’s doing.”
Now McLaurin seems to be experiencing the same thing. After years on the quarterback carousel — he caught passes from 11 quarterbacks over his first five seasons — he’s relieved. He’s no longer getting his first target late in the third quarter; he’s an integral part of the game plan and a trusted option in critical situations.
“The days of me kind of stressing about when I’m going to get the ball, like, ‘When am I going to see it?’ [are over],” McLaurin said. “I’ve really been able to relax over the course of these past few weeks and just do my job and not worry about other things and just know that, if I get open, he’s going to put the ball right where it needs to be.”
McLaurin, who had six catches for 53 yards Sunday, is having, by the numbers, almost the exact same start to this season as last year.
In the first six weeks of 2023, he had 42 targets, 31 receptions, 342 yards and 18 first downs.
In the first six weeks of 2024, he has 43 targets, 29 receptions, 356 yards and 19 first downs.
But digging deeper reveals McLaurin’s production is coming in bigger moments. The most notable example came in Cincinnati — he caught the dramatic, upset-icing touchdown — but there are smaller, subtler moments. He has doubled his third-down catches from four to eight and increased his touchdowns from one to four. The stats are no longer empty calories; they mean something.
