The timing is getting tough.
Commanders' coach voices frustration at Terry McLaurin's contract impasse, trade request originally appeared on The Sporting News
The Washington Commanders' aspirations for this season are at odds with Terry McLaurin's aspirations for a new contract.
As the season approaches and McLaurin continues to hold-in, it's getting tougher to see a smooth transition into Week 1.
McLaurin is around the team, going through meetings and the like, but not taking part in practice.
Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury is at the point where he knows nothing is going to get better, for the offense itself, without McLaurin on the field.
“I don’t know exactly how much you can get out (the off-field stuff),” Kingsbury told reporters this week. “I think we’re kind of at that point to where we need to start getting those guys, when they’re available, out there and jelling to see where we are as an offense.”
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Kingsbury added this: “Time on task together on the grass is really the only way you can continue to build."
Right now, the Commanders aren't getting any of that "time on task together on the grass" with McLaurin.
He's under contract for this season, but he saw his draft classmate DK Metcalf get a new deal and wants one for himself.
At two years older than Metcalf, though, McLaurin may have a tough time getting the money he feels he might deserve.
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It's a saga that's not over, but certainly not one that's helping Jayden Daniels and the rest of the Commanders get in sync.
Kingsbury just wants his best players on the field, a fair thing for a coach to feel. It's up to McLaurin and the Commanders' leadership to make that happen sooner rather than later.
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