The Commanders spent Week 1 watching Terry McLaurin get taken out of the game plan, and Jayden Daniels says that won’t catch them flat-footed again.
McLaurin was limited to two catches for 14 yards in Washington’s loss to the Eagles, but Daniels made it clear the offense is already working through ways to handle that kind of coverage. He said they “have answers” and explained that the job is partly about anticipating what defenses are trying to do before the snap.
“I think we just have answers for that, and you try to predict what you could see,” Daniels said, via CommandersWire.
Daniels expanded on that idea, saying the Eagles did exactly what they wanted by taking McLaurin away and forcing other players to step up. Washington got some of those answers in the game, but Daniels said the next step is making sure the opportunities for McLaurin turn into production when they come.
“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,”
Daniels said.
In Philadelphia, first-round receiver Makai Lemon is expected to get a bigger role after a quiet debut that ended with negative receiving yards. Eagles offensive coordinator Sean Mannion said the rookie is being used in a lot of different ways and will continue to see more of the offense.
“Makai, he’s doing a great job,” Mannion said, via Eagles Wire. “We’re moving him all around the formation.
We’re asking him to do a multitude of different things as a young player. He caught a nice flat route early on.
We had a screen that they defended well, really two screens to him that they defended well. ”
For the Giants, Patrick Ricard embraced the kind of work that rarely gets noticed in the box score. The fullback said he sees himself as a piece that creates an edge for the offense, especially because of the matchups he can create as a blocker.
“ I’m like the secret sauce to where you put me in different spots to get the advantage, and I’m usually a mismatch of who I’m blocking because I’m usually bigger than them, to where I think it’s really an advantage for the offense. And it’s a lot of fun, ” he said, via Giants Wire.
“ It’s a lot of fun to be in this offense, to be moved around a lot in motion and shift and be in different spots. It’s almost like Where’s Waldo on Sundays, and it can be a lot for a defense to defend.
“
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