The Washington Commanders’ offense struggled mightily in their preseason opener against the New England Patriots on August 8th. The team was held to 18 points while committing two turnovers, but offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury identified one of the root causes behind those issues: injuries.
“Yeah, I think that’s a work in progress,” Kingsbury told reporters earlier today when asked how he felt about the offense. “I don’t think, until we get some of these other pieces back, we’re going to know exactly what we are.”
The team is dealing with a slew of injuries to numerous key contributors. Guard Sam Cosmi is still battling back from a torn ACL. Backup quarterback Marcus Mariota is dealing with a mild lower leg strain. Running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt has a shoulder injury. Offensive tackle Lucas Niang will miss the season after being placed on the injured reserve earlier this week.
“We’ve had some good opportunities to see other guys get work in these positions,” Kingsbury explained. “But when you don’t have your kind of projected top-two outside receivers, one of your projected or both your projected inside pieces at guard, it’s not going to really give you the chance to gel or really build that relationship until you get everybody else on the grass.”
One of the pieces he alluded to was wide receiver Terry McLaurin, who staged a brief holdout in hopes of securing a contract extension before reporting to training camp in late July and being immediately placed on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list with an ankle injury. With his holdout evolving into a hold-in, Kingsbury has noticed the impact McLaurin’s absence has had on the team.
“I’m huge on walkthroughs, on practice, things like that, because – until you get on the grass and actually do it and feel the timing and feel the depths of routes and things of that nature – I don’t know exactly how much you can get out of that,” Kingsbury said. “So I think we’re kind of at that point where we need to start getting those guys when they’re available out there and gelling and seeing what we are as an offense.”
Unfortunately, that’ll be hard to do since Terry McLaurin is dealing with an injury and staging a hold-in. When he’s not involved, this offense looks and feels very different from the one that averaged over 30 points per game in the playoffs.
“It’s just time on task, and, luckily, they had last year to build a lot of rapport and chemistry, and Terry understands our system going into year two, so that should expedite the process,” Kingsbury explained. “But to me, it’s time on task together on the grass is really the only way that you can continue to build.”
It doesn’t sound like McLaurin is going to be ready to play in a game scheduled for Monday. He hasn’t even begun to participate in group drills or team practices.
“I mean, there hasn’t been a ton of contact with him,” Kingsbury said. “You know, he’s been here, but he’s been working with the trainers. So, until he gets back on the grass, that’s when we’ll start building that back up.”
Whether McLaurin plays or not remains to be seen. Regardless, Kliff Kingsbury thinks that his group has a lot to prove before the regular season-opener against the New York Giants on September 7th.
“Some guys are taking advantage of the opportunities, and some have not,” he said. “And that’s what we wanted to see without, Terry and Noah (Brown) getting much. We know what Deebo (Samuel) is. And then there’s a lot of guys that are trying to earn a roster spot. So that competition has been good, but I think there’s still a lot to show over the next three weeks.”
The Commanders will be hosting the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night. Kickoff for that game is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. EDT.
