The hits keep coming for Commies fans. Terry McLaurin left Monday night’s 23-17 loss to the 49ers with a knee injury, and he didn’t come back. The team made it official at 9 p.m. ET in a one-line update: “WR Terry McLaurin (knee) is out.” The loss drops Washington to 1-4-1 heading into the bye. That one line about the Terry McLaurin injury landed like a hard gut-punch to Commies fans, because they all saw how he left the field.
Ben Standig reported McLaurin went down after a third-down play, and John Keim said he was down right in front of the Washington bench. Nicki Jhabvala reported that he grabbed his left knee after the tackle. Then the cart came out. It got even worse at that point. A large air cast was placed on McLaurin’s leg. These are usually reserved for compound fractures. This might be a new procedure performed for knee injuries. At any rate, it was alarming to see a large air cast on McLaurin as he rode off the field in a cart.
The reaction from both teams was a testament to the kind of player and man that McLaurin is as he was checked on by his own teammates as well as numerous 49ers players, including Fred Warner, Trent Williams, and Mike Evans. That is respect, pure and simple.
After the game, Dan Quinn gave the update none of us wanted to hear. He didn’t have a firm answer yet, but Tashan Reed of The Athletic reported Quinn said there’s concern that the knee injury is significant, and JP Finlay reported the same.
Tuesday morning brought more worry. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported McLaurin is feared to have suffered a serious knee injury that could end his season, and that he’ll have an MRI today. Adam Schefter also passed along Keim’s report that the Commanders fear the injury is “significant.”
Tuesday afternoon, the fear became fact. At his press conference, Dan Quinn confirmed that McLaurin tore the patellar tendon in his left knee. Beat reporters at the presser reported that he’ll need surgery and is out for the rest of the season, and the Commanders’ own account confirmed the season-ending injury, adding, “Wishing our captain a healthy recovery.” There’s no surgery date yet, and we won’t guess at anything past this season.
Here is the unfortunate reality Commies fans will have to wrestle with: They may have seen the last of Terry McLaurin in Burgundy and Gold. Adam Peters does not value wide receivers over 30, as advanced analytics show a drop-off in performance after that age. This is one reason why Peters was so reluctant to give McLaurin the big contract extension that he was demanding two seasons ago. The analytics also showed that the risk of injury increased after wide receivers turn 30.
Well, McLaurin has proven Peters’ fears to be real. McLaurin missed seven games in the 2025 regular season due to a quadriceps injury. This season, McLaurin had already missed one game due to a hamstring injury. Now, six games into the season, it looks like McLaurin will be done for the remainder of the season.
All this leads to the fact that the Commies can get out of the McLaurin contract after the 2026 season. McLaurin is set to earn up to $25.5 million in 2027 and $31 million in 2028. I am unsure that Peters is going to want to pay that for McLaurin at this stage in his career.
The sad fact for Commies fans is that seeing McLaurin lying in pain on the field in Santa Clara may be the final image of McLaurin wearing the Burfandy and Gold. This may be how a beloved player has his career ended with Washington. It would be a tough pill to swallow, but it is something that Commies fans should prepare themselves for next season.
McLaurin’s injury and the high likelihood of him not being with the team next year also highlight the extreme pressure on Peters to find a true WR1 for next year. The fact remains that despite McLaurin’s age, the Commies’ wide receiver corps is far weaker without him. It is going to be a tough road ahead for Jayden Daniels and the offense as they navigate the remainder of the season without McLaurin.
