Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin didn’t get to work with new quarterback Carson Wentz much in the offseason. When Washington began its OTAs in the spring, McLaurin chose to skip the voluntary workouts as he and the team worked on a contract extension.
However, during McLaurin’s absence, he stayed in touch with Wentz and offered nothing but praise for the quarterback.
McLaurin’s new deal became official last month, just weeks before training camp. After signing his deal, McLaurin, Wentz and other wide receivers spent some time in California working out together and building camaraderie before camp began.
Now that McLaurin and Wentz have spent training camp and the preseason together, how does the star wideout feel about his rapport with his quarterback?
“I think it’s grown a lot,” McLaurin said. “Especially since the first week, we are definitely connecting a lot more than we were. I think that’s good. You have to accumulate a certain amount of reps to start getting comfortable with a quarterback and a receiver.”
The pair always finds time to communicate on the field or in the meeting room.
“And even the things that don’t necessarily show up in the games or practice, we talk through on the sidelines or in the meetings,” McLaurin said. “That’s really cool to have a guy that’s so communicative like he is, and he’s easy to work with. He’s a guy that we could really continue to grow together, not just myself but the other guys in our room.”
One area where Wentz has often got into trouble was playing off-schedule. McLaurin likes that part of Wentz’s game and sees it as a strength.
“I think he’s going to continue to give us chances to make plays down the field; he gives us a chance to really play some backyard football, which is personally what I like,” he said. “Everything is not quite going to be as clean as you want it to be, but if you have a quarterback who is problem-solving and a receiver that is problem-solving, you can make the play work.”
Finally, McLaurin offered the ultimate praise to Wentz.
“It’s been great working with him; it really has; he’s just a really good human being,” the wide receiver said. “So it makes it easy to work with a person like that.”
The actual games haven’t begun yet, but it sure sounds like Wentz is a popular figure amongst his wide receivers.
LIVE: Terry McLaurin speaks to the media after practice https://t.co/MKsUfREkMI
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) August 29, 2022
