Category: Latest Washington News

Terry McLaurin leads all WRs in yards after catch; trails only Alvin Kamara in NFL

When it comes to making plays with the ball in his hands, no WR in the NFL is better than Terry McLaurin at this moment.

Any fan of the Washington Football Team knows how special WR Terry McLaurin is, and it seems that the NFL as a whole is starting to get the picture as well.

Through the quarter-mark of the 2020 NFL season, McLaurin now leads all receivers when it comes to yards after the catch, and he ranks second in the entire league, trailing only RB Alvin Kamara from the New Orleans Saints.

With 208 yards after the catch, McLaurin now has 387 total receiving yards this season, which ranks fifth in the NFL. It’s also important to note that among the top-five receivers in that category, he is the only player without a Pro-Bowl level quarterback throwing him the ball. If Dwayne Haskins can continue to progress and settle into his role as a franchise QB, it will be absolutely incredible to see what McLaurin can do.

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Rivera credits Scott Turner for devising a game plan that works for Dwayne Haskins

An offensive game plan that was full of screen-passes and short routes allowed Haskins to evade the pass-rush and get into a rhythm.

You probably noticed when watching Washington’s game against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday afternoon that the offense was tailored in a way specifically to make QB Dwayne Haskins comfortable. This included a lot of drag routes over the middle, as well as screen passes on the outside where Haskins could get the ball out quickly, and avoid having to sit in the pocket for multiple seconds while a blitz got home.

When talking to the media on Monday morning, HC Ron Rivera credited OC Scott Turner for this innovation and wrinkle in his offense, which he said was designed to get Haskins into a rhythm and negate Baltimore’s rushing attack.

As a result, Haskins turned in probably the best game of his young career, if not the most efficient, going 32-for-45 with 314 yards and 0 INTs. The offense was routinely able to move the ball down the field and get into scoring position, Unfortunately, they struggled to cap a few drives off, missing a field goal and failing to convert a fourth-and-goal from the 13-yard-line, but that’s something that will come as they get more used to the success of being in the redzone. What matters now is that Turner is finding ways to get his QB comfortable in the offense, and it appears to be working.

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Washington cancels free-agent workouts Monday, using ‘abundance of caution’ with COVID-19

Washington chose to cancel its weekly free-agent workout due to an abundance of caution surrounding COVID-19 in the NFL right now.

The Washington Football Team normally uses Mondays to work out free agent players and potentially give them a chance to join the practice squad.

That isn’t happening this week, as the team as reportedly canceled the workouts due to ‘an abundance of caution’ with COVID-19 concerns, according to Ron Rivera, as well as a number of other sources.

Rivera addressed the media on Monday morning and said that the team felt it was smart to take a break and review the situation, sending the players who were in town for the work out home.

This cancelation comes in a week where COVID concerns have been heightened in the NFL, with one game between the Tennessee Titans and Pittsburgh Steelers being postponed, and the Kansas City Chiefs vs. New England Patriots game being moved back a day after QB Cam Newton tested positive for the virus. There are no signs that any player or staff member inside Washington’s organization has been affected, but they are still playing things safe.

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Dwayne Haskins’ agent stands up for QB amidst calls for him to be benched

With calls for Dwayne Haskins to be benched, the QB’s agent took to Twitter to voice his argument against this idea.

The major story in D.C. over this past week was about whether or not the Washington Football Team should bench second-year QB Dwayne Haskins, who had struggled to find a rhythm thus far in his second NFL season.

David Mulugheta, Haskins’ agent, had some things to say about that after Washington’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens, quote tweeting a report from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport that suggested Haskins might be benched after a bad game on Sunday.

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In essence, Mulugheta questioned the idea that Haskins is the problem in Washington’s offense, wondering how a young QB with very little experience and few weapons to work with, not to mention a porous offensive line in front of him could be worthy of so much blame.

He’s got a point, but it seems that Washington is fine with the development of Haskins when it isn’t directly hurting the team. For instance, Haskins was turnover-free yet again on Sunday against the Ravens, and while he didn’t do enough on offense to win the game, the feeling is still largely positive surrounding the young QB. With a career-high in passing yards, plus his first rushing touchdown, Haskins played well enough to keep his job.

Whether that will continue going forward is a different story, but you have to love Haskins’ agent standing up for him.

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In/Out: Terry McLaurin to play vs. Baltimore; Ravens without Ronnie Stanley, Derek Wolfe

Check out the full list of inactives for both the Washington Football Team and Baltimore Ravens ahead of Sunday’s game.

Washington fans got the news they wanted to hear on Sunday morning, with it being announced that wide receiver Terry McLaurin is good to go against the Baltimore Ravens. It was put in doubt earlier this week when McLaurin was placed on the injury report with a thigh injury and listed as questionable.

Aside from the obvious nice surprise of McLaurin, there are no major inactive that we didn’t know about in Washington:

  • No. 11 QB Alex Smith
  • No. 15 WR Steven Sims Jr.
  • No. 32 DB Danny Johnson
  • No. 55 LB Cole Holcomb
  • No. 77 T Saahdiq Charles
  • No. 99 Chase Young

As for the Ravens, here is their inactive list for the week:

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Washington could bench Dwayne Haskins if struggles continue Sunday

A new report shows that Washington is willing to bench Haskins should he continue to struggle on Sunday vs. Ravens.

We’ve been told that Ron Rivera and the Washington Football Team has a ‘cut-off’ point for QB Dwayne Haskins, where he could risk losing his job should he not show some improvement in the future. Now it appears that the cut-off point is much closer than we might have imagined.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Washington is willing to move on from Haskins if he continues to struggle against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, failing to show any improvement.

Sources say Haskins enters a critical stretch for his own development and must improve greatly for him to keep the job. In fact, there is a chance if it goes particularly badly today, Haskins could be pulled at some point in favor of Kyle Allen, who was with Ron Rivera in Carolina.

This obviously does not bode well for Haskins, who faces one of the best defenses in the league with the Ravens coming to town.

While it’s improbable that Washington pulls out a victory, what will be important to see is a lack of mistakes from Haskins, who now has his starting job hinging on every throw he makes.

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Terry McLaurin is ‘expected to play’ with thigh injury vs. Ravens

Terry McLaurin is expected to play on Sunday against the Ravens after being listed as questionable with a thigh injury.

Though he is listed as questionable for Washington’s game against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, WR Terry McLaurin is reportedly expected to play, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

McLaurin popped up on the injury report late this past week for the first time all year, and he was said to have been dealing with a minor injury in his thigh or quad. The extent of the injury was never known, but some believed it wasn’t serious enough to keep him out of the game on Sunday. Now, with the report from Schefter, it appears that Washington will have their No. 1 option against a stout Ravens defense.

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Larry Fitzgerald sends personalized jerseys to Terry McLaurin, Chase Young

After facing off against each other in Week 2, Larry Fitzgerald sent a personalized jersey to both Terry McLaurin and Chase Young.

We saw a cool moment after Washington’s Week 2 against the Arizona Cardinals when both Terry McLaurin and NFL legend Larry Fitzgerald convened on the field to talk. If you know much about the two players, it was an intriguing generation moment, with Fitzgerald representing what McLaurin could potentially become one day. The old head and the young gun, with all due respect.

Now it has come out that Fitzgerlad sent a personalized jersey to both McLaurin and rookie DE Chase Young, where he wrote inspiring messages to both of them.

“You are a complete package as a player, and I know great things are ahead,” Fitzgerald wrote on the jersey to McLaurin. “Keep your foot on the gas daily to get better, and push your teammates to do the same.”

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Washington signs former 5th-round pick RB Jonathan Williams to practice squad

Washington signed RB Jonathan Williams to the practice squad on Friday after Jared Norris was elevated to the active roster.

A few roster moves were made by Washington on Friday after RB Bryce Love was moved to the short-term IR to deal with a knee injury that has him temporarily unavailable to play. The move left an open spot on the 53-man roster, which has been filled by LB Jared Norris.

Washington has now filled their open spot on the practice squad, signing RB Jonathan Williams, a player who was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Williams has bounced around the league a bit since being drafted, last spending time with the Detroit Lions earlier this season, and the Indianapolis Colts last season.

Williams appeared in nine games and recorded 49 carries for 235 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown on the 2019 season.

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Chase a spot in the playoffs, or plan for the future? Ron Rivera is still undecided

Despite a tough start to the season, a weak NFC East has left a door open for Washington to make the playoffs.

Despite having a 1-2 record and coming off of two frustrating losses in the past couple of weeks, things are actually going a bit better than expected in Washington. Thanks to a putrid NFC East, they are tied for the top spot in the division, and outside of some unfortunate quarterback play in Week 3, the offense has looked pretty solid, while the defense remains capable of making some big plays.

With all of this taking place, head coach Ron Rivera has been put in an interesting spot of needing to decide if he wants to put his future plans on hold, and instead make the necessary moves in order to chase a playoff spot and potentially win the NFC East division.

Luckily for Rivera, that decision is likely going to be made for him over the next couple of weeks. Washington has a tough schedule coming up, with games against the Baltimore Ravens (2-1) and the Los Angeles Rams (2-1) in the next two weeks. Depending on how his team fares in those contests, plus how the rest of the NFC makes out in their respective schedules, the decision will likely be pretty clear-cut a few weeks from now. After Washington gets over this hump of tough matchups, they actually catch a little bit of a break in the scheduling department, where they face the NY Giants twice over the following four weeks, with games against the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions in there as well.

Even if Washington is to lose to both the Ravens and Rams, heading into late November with a 4-5 or 5-4 record is absolutely not out of the question.

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So what would the ‘necessary changes’ look like for Rivera if he chooses to chase a playoff spot? Well, it starts and ends with the QB position. We’ve seen a disturbing lack of progression from Dwayne Haskins, and Rivera has made it known that they are willing to bench him should nothing improve. Earlier in the week, the head coach stated that he has guys on his roster that are playing incredibly well, and it’s unfair to them to have one player bring down the success level because of his play. Might this mean that they would go to Kyle Allen or Alex Smith for the rest of the season while Dwayne continues to develop on the side? It’s definitely possible, and something to keep your eye on.

The main takeaway is that Washington by no means thinks they are out of it, and decisions are going to be made with this in mind going forward. This team can still win some games and put together a nice record when all is said and done. Whether they will aim for a playoff spot is still yet to be known, but a couple of weeks from now, we will definitely get a clear picture.

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