The Commanders will face some unfortunate challenges as they head to the Lone Star State for a matchup with the division-rival Cowboys. After placing Noah Brown on injured reserve this week, there was still hope that wide receivers Terry McLaurin and Deebo Samuel could be available for the trip. Unfortunately, Jayden Daniels will be without all three pass catchers Sunday afternoon as Samuel stays in Washington with a heel injury, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. 
The Commanders have experience working without Brown, who started the first two games of the year before a groin injury held him out for the last four. After missing that much time, it’s clear that Washington should’ve put him on IR sooner. Doing so at this point only ensures his already extended absence will now be at least half the season.
The team is likely used to being without McLaurin, as well, considering he’s only played one more game than Brown. McLaurin suffered a knee sprain that held him out of the team’s Week 4 game, but Washington opted not to place him on IR, since he didn’t require surgery. It’s since been categorized as a quad injury that held him out two more weeks and will now do as much damage as if he had been placed on IR.
This week, McLaurin will be the second wide receiver taking up a spot on Washington’s 53-man roster for four weeks, when the Commanders could’ve supplemented their roster with more bodies by placing them on IR. It’s a tough line to toe, determining whether or not a player will be able return to the field within four weeks, but between Brown and McLaurin, it’s hit Washington twice this year as they’ve essentially played three weeks with a self-imposed 51-man roster.
Samuel’s been dealing with his heel issue for the past three weeks, but before this week, any absences at practice were categorized as “NIR(Rest)/Heel,” indicating non-injury related rest while still acknowledging some issue with his heel. The injury never held him out, though. The offseason trade acquisition has been Daniels’ most reliable target as he leads the team in every receiving category.
In the absence of Brown and McLaurin, it’s been veteran Chris Moore, last year’s third-round pick Luke McCaffrey, and rookie fourth-rounder Jaylin Lane stepping up in Washington. With Samuel out this week, as well, all three will need to step up even more moving forward. In the winning trip to Los Angeles, Samuel saw 11 targets, and no one else saw more than two. Last week, things were a bit more spread out as Samuel and Moore saw five targets apiece and Ertz saw six.
Daniels has done his best to spread out the ball and keep everyone incorporated in the offense so as not to become one-note. While doing so, though, the team’s 2-1 start has been offset by a 1-2 record without McLaurin. Daniels, in his second year of NFL play, has been dealt an ugly hand early in his career, but Washington will count on the roster they’ve built to support him.
It was almost guaranteed that at least one team’s two standard gameday practice squad elevations would be a wide receiver. Among the options were the team’s most recent signee, Treylon Burks, veteran Robbie Chosen, and undrafted rookie Ja’Corey Brooks, who was called up last week. The Commanders landed on Chosen with one elevation, but the other will be used to bring up defensive tackle Sheldon Day. Luckily, it may be a soft test for the youthful offensive crew as they face a Dallas defense that is giving up the most passing yards per game in the NFL.
Washington is tied for 2nd in rushing yardage and the Cowboys rank 29th against the run so I don’t think the Commanders game plan was going to feature an abundance of passing anyway.
Not so sure about that….Daniels has a hefty part of that total, and comparatively, even the Carolina Panthers have 800+ yds rushing…..don’t think the Commanders game plan is to run the ball when Daniels is the QB other than RPO’s which is dangerous for his health….they may have to this week, but boasting about when being 2nd in rushing, and your QB has over 20% of that total isn’t healthy for a smallish QB like Daniels….remember RGlll…….
Awww sh..
And for all you McLaurin fans out there that were screaming for him to “get paid”…..now that he has the big contract, he’s played only 3 games (and don’t say he got the injury playing hard because the point here is that every year a WR ages, its harder for them to come back and the wear and tear adds up) for a total of 149 yds, 0 TD,s……..the moral of the story is while he was paid in the past to play, and paid pretty well…teams constantly get persuaded to pay for past performance rather than future results…….