Receivers Terry McLaurin and Deebo Samuel will both be active for the Washington Commanders’ game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football, head coach Dan Quinn said Saturday.
Monday’s game will be the first time the Commanders’ offense will feature McLaurin and Samuel on the field together since Week 3. McLaurin injured his quad while trying to score a touchdown against the Las Vegas Raiders and has been inactive since then. Samuel is dealing with a heel injury that kept him out of last Sunday’s 44-22 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
Both players were full participants throughout the week.
“Terry and Deebo have both had good weeks and we are excited to have them back on the field,” Quinn said.
Although McLaurin returned to the training field last week, it was in a limited capacity and only for one day. This week, McLaurin had a busy workload and fully reintegrated into the offense. McLaurin said he didn’t really feel like himself until he participated in a road running session with the training staff on Monday.
“I had a really good day of practice yesterday,” McLaurin said. “I felt really good. It’s just about getting back into the motions of football. I don’t necessarily call it rust. It’s just about getting back into the rhythm of football. That comes with the reps, and I had two really good days. I can’t wait to finish this tomorrow.”
Samuel took McLaurin’s place and became the Commanders’ go-to weapon in the passing game with 315 receiving yards and four total touchdowns. Samuel’s heel injury, however, limited him in training for the previous two weeks. He and the Commanders decided the Saturday before the Cowboys game that he would let his injury heal over the weekend in order to be ready to face the Chiefs. Samuel said the injury was “not a problem” this week and he would be “ready to go wild” with McLaurin.
Both receivers should help even the odds against the Chiefs, who are top-10 on offense and defense and have won four of their last five games. Their presence should at least help diversify the offense, which was expected to rely more on their running game and backup receivers against the Cowboys.
“It always helps, there’s no doubt about it,” offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury said Friday. “There are certain coverages that teams aren’t ready to play when you have guys like that on the field. So they can definitely help open things up if they’re able to get going.”
The Commanders have suffered from injuries at several positions throughout the season, but this week’s injury toll was much shorter than previous weeks. Tight end Colson Yankoff, who suffered a hamstring injury earlier in the week, has been ruled out. The Commanders also ruled out quarterback Jayden Daniels on Thursday due to the same injury, leaving room for Marcus Mariota to start his third game this season.
Daron Payne is dealing with a toe injury and is listed as questionable after not practicing all week. Kicker Matt Gay was added to the injury report with a back injury and is also questionable for Monday.
