Terry McLaurin is back on the field, back around his teammates and back in the kind of summer groove Washington has been missing from him.
That matters for the Commanders on its own. McLaurin spent last offseason away from team work while his contract situation dragged on, then missed the start of training camp before eventually landing a new deal.
The price was a rough season: an injury in Week 3, seven games missed and a Commanders finish of 5-12. This summer has looked different.
McLaurin has been present for the full offseason program, and he has carried that energy into camp.
Head coach Dan Quinn said the change is obvious.
"I don't know if I can quantify it, but I know it, I can feel it," Quinn said on Wednesday about McLaurin. "His interaction with his teammates, man, he is playing with joy.
And it was so evident from the first practice; there was a sideline catch by Jeremy McNichols, just, like, as a running back, kept his feet and just a crazy catch on the sideline. And the first person down the sideline sprinting past everybody was Terry.
I said, 'That's a player with joy.'"
That’s the version of McLaurin Washington wants: healthy, engaged and leading by example. And one of the clearest signs of that leadership has shown up in the way he’s taken rookie receivers under his wing.
This summer, McLaurin has been especially involved with undrafted rookie Jaden Bradley out of UNLV. The 6-foot-3 Bradley turned heads during OTAs and minicamp, and with Washington looking for help at receiver, he’s been one of the more interesting names to watch in camp.
McLaurin has already been seen working with Bradley on the practice field, and when asked about him, he didn’t hold back.
"I think he has a unique skillset where he's a bigger receiver, but he moves very smoothly," McLaurin said. "His releases are very smooth.
He's sudden in his releases. He has really good feet at the top.
He kind of has a pro-like feel. For him, it's just gonna be about detailing it, splits, timing.
When you're running down the field, keeping your shoulder close so you can track the ball over your shoulder. Red zone, it's not as much space, so you gotta hold that defender off so you can give the quarterback more space to throw in that back corner of the end zone.
Just little tidbits like that I try to pass along with him, but he's a sponge, man. He's been asking questions since he first got here and obviously he's undrafted."
McLaurin kept going, and the message was clear: Bradley has caught his attention.
"I haven't really had a guy who's undrafted who's just followed every single thing that not only I do, but what [WR] Dyami [Brown] does. You see him working out in the offseason.
He was out with us in LA, so he's just super hungry. And guys who tend to care that much about their craft tend to have success.
He knows that he has the opportunity to try to earn a spot on this team, and I'm gonna do whatever I can to try to help him because he has a really good skill set."
McLaurin was also just as positive about another rookie wideout, third-round pick Antonio Williams, whom he described as a sponge.
With talk around Washington potentially signing Stefon Diggs also starting to build, Bradley’s path will be worth watching closely as camp rolls on. For now, though, he has something valuable working in his favor: McLaurin’s attention.
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Elsewhere in the receiver room, the early returns have not inspired much confidence, and that has only sharpened the conversation about whether Washington needs to add another established pass catcher before the season gets rolling. For a team trying to make life easier on Daniels right away, the next move at wideout may end up being one of the most important storylines of camp. [Read more 🡒]