Easy to understand why Sean McVay doesn't play anyone important in the preseason. Terry McLaurin suffered a turf toe injury just before halftime of the Commanders-Ravens game Monday night. He's being called day-to-day, which probably means he won't miss any regular season games, but it's an injury that could affect him.
Foot injuries of any kind are worrying. You'll see players playing through them, but it can slow them on the field, sapping both speed and explosiveness. McLaurin was being selected a little earlier than I'd take him everywhere anyway, but he's a player I'm fond of -- underrated, I think.
McLaurin has been in the league for four years, and in that time he's caught 299 passes -- 75 per season -- while averaging 68 yards per game. That's a top-12 figure among wide receivers to play at least 50 games in that timeframe, which is very good, and even better when you consider what he's had to work with at quarterback in those years: Keenum, Haskins, Heinicke, Wentz. Quarterbacks the 11 guys ahead of him have been working with include Mahomes, Rodgers, Brady, Allen, Stafford, Herbert and Cousins. The only wideouts who have done a similar amount with less are DJ Moore and perhaps DeAndre Hopkins.
Stats from other wide receivers to play at least 50 games the last four seasons, sorted by yards per game, are below. Data compiled using the search tools at pro-football-reference.com.
| WIDE RECEIVERS, 2019-2022 (MINIMUM 50 GAMES) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | G | No | Rec | TD | Y/G |
| Justin Jefferson | 50 | 324 | 4825 | 25 | 96.5 |
| Davante Adams | 59 | 421 | 5440 | 48 | 92.2 |
| Cooper Kupp | 57 | 406 | 4894 | 35 | 85.9 |
| Tyreek Hill | 61 | 375 | 5085 | 38 | 83.4 |
| Stefon Diggs | 64 | 401 | 5319 | 35 | 83.1 |
| Chris Godwin | 55 | 353 | 4299 | 24 | 78.2 |
| DeAndre Hopkins | 50 | 325 | 3861 | 24 | 77.2 |
| A.J. Brown | 60 | 273 | 4491 | 35 | 74.9 |
| Keenan Allen | 56 | 376 | 4081 | 24 | 72.9 |
| Mike Evans | 60 | 288 | 4322 | 41 | 72.0 |
| D.J. Moore | 64 | 309 | 4413 | 19 | 69.0 |
| Terry McLaurin | 63 | 299 | 4281 | 21 | 68.0 |
| Amari Cooper | 64 | 317 | 4328 | 30 | 67.6 |
| Tyler Lockett | 64 | 339 | 4319 | 35 | 67.5 |
| Mike Williams | 59 | 236 | 3798 | 20 | 64.4 |
| D.K. Metcalf | 66 | 306 | 4218 | 35 | 63.9 |
| Deebo Samuel | 51 | 223 | 3230 | 12 | 63.3 |
| Brandin Cooks | 58 | 270 | 3469 | 17 | 59.8 |
| Allen Robinson | 54 | 271 | 3146 | 17 | 58.3 |
| DeVante Parker | 53 | 206 | 3049 | 18 | 57.5 |
| Diontae Johnson | 64 | 340 | 3646 | 20 | 57.0 |
| Christian Kirk | 61 | 277 | 3420 | 22 | 56.1 |
| Robert Woods | 57 | 278 | 3153 | 14 | 55.3 |
| Tyler Boyd | 63 | 294 | 3477 | 19 | 55.2 |
| Jarvis Landry | 52 | 232 | 2856 | 12 | 54.9 |
| Michael Gallup | 53 | 199 | 2819 | 17 | 53.2 |
| Marquise Brown | 58 | 262 | 3070 | 24 | 52.9 |
| Adam Thielen | 55 | 241 | 2785 | 36 | 50.6 |
| Marvin Jones | 62 | 257 | 3118 | 25 | 50.3 |
| Cole Beasley | 50 | 237 | 2473 | 11 | 49.5 |
One could argue that this injury will cause McLaurin to fall to a more attractive area of drafts. There's value, if he's able to shake this off and play through it. But it's also worrying. Jahan Dotson, though, becomes a little more intriguing. He's been pretty good in the preseason anyway, and seems to have a rapport with Sam Howell. If McLaurin is limited early on, could be Dotson stepping up as the top target in the offense.
--Andy Richardson