Terry McLaurin injury update: Dan Quinn reveals Commanders WR's status for Cowboys game

Terry McLaurin, who’s still dealing with a quadriceps injury, hasn’t played for the Washington Commanders since Week 3. His absence will now be extended another week with his status out for Week 7.

At a press conference on Friday, McLaurin was designated as out by Dan Quinn. Sunday’s divisional matchup against the Dallas Cowboys will be the fourth-straight game he has missed, with him sidelined for nearly a month now with his injury.

“We’re only going to rule one player out, to give you an injury update. That’ll be Terry,” Quinn said in his opening statement. “And, as far as everyone else, we’ll kind of work through tomorrow to get there.”

Quinn further explained his status in a separate answer, as McLaurin was limited on Wednesday, before not practicing on Thursday. He said the team is just not fully there yet with McLaurin’s health, specifically with the type of injury he’s currently still recovering from. That said, it is taking longer than the team first thought.

“It’s frustrating for him because he’s working at it hard. And, with an injury like this? This is a speed player, and so, on movements where you’re jogging or not, you know, fully there? You know, it’s just not ready yet. And that sometimes happens, you know, when you have a soft tissue injury and you’re wanting it to get there, but you have to push it at the top speeds. And so, sometimes that’s acceleration, sometimes it’s deceleration and how hard you have to plant and turn,” Quinn said. “So, like I said, he’s working at it hard. He’s frustrating. But, we’re closer, and, as we’ve been going week to week, it can be difficult on an injury that you have to rest and push at high speed, and you need volume at it, you need reps at it. And, it’s good to see him running routes and doing that. But, once we kind of got to that space, we’re just not all the way there yet.”

“I think, you know, the easy question was like, why not IR? Like, well, two ways. Like, you don’t want to go there if he’s earlier and then like, all of a sudden, you’re like, after, you know, two or three, you’re like, man, that’s there. So, it’s like that fine balance when you’re right in the space. And so, I think that’s what, you know, they’re not just as easy as, hey, this is, no matter what, two weeks or four weeks or that. When it’s really a longer one, that makes those decisions easier. With a player with his speed, that’s the part. And, he hasn’t been injured a lot, thank goodness. And so, you know, learning how to go where it is, what it feels like. But, for a speed? Like, it’s just different, you know.”

McLaurin appeared in Weeks 1 through 3 in games against the New York Giants, Green Bay Packers, and Las Vegas Raiders back in September. He, in those three appearances this season, had 10 catches on 17 targets for 149 yards, averaging 49.7 per game and 14.9 per reception.

However, this injury has now cost him the next four games against the Atlanta Falcons, Los Angeles Chargers, Chicago Bears, and now the Dallas Cowboys. They’ll have an extra day in between games the following week, with Week 8 being a matchup on the road against the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football. Still, there’s no timetable yet for a return by McLaurin.