{"id":2556,"date":"2026-06-03T07:34:59","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T07:34:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2556"},"modified":"2026-06-03T07:34:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T07:34:59","slug":"terry-mclaurin-isnt-ready-to-forget-last-years-mistakes-i-learned-a-lot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2556","title":{"rendered":"Terry McLaurin isn\u2019t ready to forget last year\u2019s mistakes: \u2018I learned a lot\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Commanders\u2019 star receiver acknowledged Tuesday that his holdout affected young quarterback Jayden Daniels.<\/strong><\/p>

Read more Nationals-Marlins has a surprising start and a predictable finish<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Washington Commanders receiver Terry McLaurin during a workout Tuesday. (Nick Wass\/AP)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Terry McLaurin stood outside the Washington Commanders practice facility Tuesday, talking about regret.<\/p>\n

A year has passed since the Commanders\u2019 top wide receiver began the holdout that seemed to send the team into a free-fall from which it never recovered. While he eventually got a three-year contract extension worth $98 million, his season was filled with injuries and disappointment, and he may have even stained his reputation as a rare kind of selfless football star.<\/p>\n

So when McLaurin was asked Tuesday whether missing offseason practices and training camp while fighting for a new deal last year had a bigger impact than he expected, he quickly nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can answer that honestly,\u201d he said. \u201cMissing that time, I think, with a young quarterback is extremely important, because although I was going into year seven, [quarterback] Jayden [Daniels] was going into year two. And our connection is extremely important to build during this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Commanders have talked a lot this spring about fresh starts. They use words such as \u201cpacing\u201d and \u201cenergy,\u201d and they say the past few weeks of offseason team activities have been an encouraging sign that the team is more together and focused \u2014 and ready to run away from last year\u2019s 5-12 nightmare.<\/p>\n

A big part of that optimism is the fact that McLaurin is here.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s certain cornerstone people like Terry that have these standards, whether it\u2019s practice, workouts, the meeting. You can feel all the energy that [they] bring to everybody,\u201d Commanders Coach Dan Quinn said. \u201cHe\u2019s off to a hell of a start here.\u201d<\/p>\n

But last year isn\u2019t far away, and in his first news conference since last season ended, McLaurin made clear he hasn\u2019t forgotten.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew a lot from that situation,\u201d he said. \u201cI learned a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was asked what he had learned.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NFL is a business, and when you get to a certain part of your career, that starts to show itself,\u201d he said. \u201cBut at the same time, you can\u2019t necessarily control a lot of things on the business side of it.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Torres, P\u00e9rez and Greene go deep to back Flaherty as Tigers beat Rays<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just something that had to happen,\u201d he added. \u201cI don\u2019t look at things that are adversity in your life as a negative thing, like I used to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
McLaurin helped the Commanders reach the NFL title game in 2025. (John McDonnell\/For The Washington Post)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

On the field, McLaurin has been dazzling. He says his body feels as good as it has in years, and he looks more like the rookie third-round draft pick who stunned everyone in minicamp and training camp back in 2019 and quickly made himself Washington\u2019s No. 1 wide receiver before the first game.<\/p>\n

He talked about the offense of new coordinator David Blough, specifically how Blough is moving him to both sides of the field, creating more options for him and the rest of the receivers. McLaurin said he really appreciates that the new system has several options that start the same but end with him going in different directions. He said it will be difficult for defensive backs to know which way he\u2019s running.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat forces them to have to communicate more,\u201d McLaurin said. \u201cIt forces them to have to be able to study my route stems and in lining up, where I\u2019m lining up, and versus just being able to know, like, \u2018Hey, we know [McLaurin] is going to be on the left side, we can shift our defense and play it to that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Almost as an example, McLaurin blew past a defensive back in Tuesday\u2019s practice, racing wide open down the field, the closest defender more than 10 yards behind him. Daniels leaned back and threw. Too far. An easy touchdown instead became a blown big play. McLaurin watched the ball roll through the end zone and slowly walked back upfield.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just barely missed [that] play,\u201d McLaurin later said.<\/p>\n

McLaurin found Daniels, and the two talked. McLaurin appeared to explain the way the defender had not properly covered him, allowing the route to be open. Daniels nodded, and practice went on.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been able to hit the ground running, and it\u2019s allowed us to really work out a lot of early kinks, and we\u2019re connecting on a lot of plays early,\u201d McLaurin said.<\/p>\n

Something they never got to do last spring, in what became a lost season for all of them.<\/p>

Read more Rumfield gets gift homer when flyball bounces off Adell\u2019s head as Rockies top Angels 8-2<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Commanders\u2019 star receiver acknowledged Tuesday that his holdout impacted young quarterback Jayden Daniels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2553,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nTerry McLaurin isn\u2019t ready to forget last year\u2019s mistakes: \u2018I learned a lot\u2019 - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2556\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Terry McLaurin isn\u2019t ready to forget last year\u2019s mistakes: \u2018I learned a lot\u2019 - 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