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When will Terry McLaurin return and play? Will Terry McLaurin be back again this season? Read the latest Terry McLaurin injury updates and return date for Week 6 (2025).
The Washington Commanders made an impressive and improbable run to the NFC Championship game last season, and expectations were high coming into 2025. The team has been hampered by a few early-season injuries, though, and is 3-2 coming into its Monday Night Football matchup in Week 6 at home against the Bears.
One key injury has been to Terry McLaurin, who got a big extension before the season began after missing most of the offseason work as a hold-in. He started the season on time but exited in Week 3 against the Raiders with a quad injury.
When will Scary Terry return to action, and what is his fantasy football outlook when he does? Let's dive in.
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Terry McLaurin Injury Update
McLaurin hauled in a 56-yard pass in the third quarter of the Commanders' Week 3 win against the Raiders and stretched for the goal line, coming up just short. He quickly got up and off the field without much issue. Somewhere along the way, though, whether on the route of the tackle at the goal line, he picked up a quad issue.
The exact nature of the injury seems to be a little more complex than a simple strain, and McLaurin visited core muscle specialist, Dr. William Meyers, for a second opinion. It seems to be affecting his groin and hip area as well, but the good news from all his consultations was that there was no need for surgery.
McLaurin was not placed on IR, so he is eligible to return as soon as he's ready, but he has missed the last two weeks with the injury. On Monday of this week, coach Dan Quinn said that he was "optimistic" that McLaurin would return this week.
Quinn said he's "optimistic" about Terry McLaurin for this week and reiterates that he and others -- Noah Brown, Sam Cosmi -- are trending in the right direction. Having the extra day helps. But, stop me if you've heard this one, we'll find out more later in the week.
— John Keim (@john_keim) October 6, 2025
However, McLaurin was still unable to practice on Wednesday. With an extra day before playing on Monday, we probably won't have an official status or ultimate clarity on McLaurin until Saturday, but he'll need to return to practice at some point this week to have a shot of getting back on the field in Week 6.
If he does continue to miss practice and ultimately miss Week 6, his next chance to return would be in Week 7 against the Cowboys before another Monday Night Football matchup for the Commanders against the Chiefs in Week 8. McLaurin seems to be progressing in the right direction, although it's still hard to say exactly how quickly that progress will be.
Terry McLaurin Fantasy Football Outlook
Before the injury, McLaurin was still operating as the team's top receiver. He only had four targets in Week 1 as the Commanders routed the Giants, but he was up to nine targets in Week 2's loss to the Packers. He only managed five catches for 48 yards in that game, but was still heavily involved. In Week 3, he had three catches for 74 yards in his best performance of the season before exiting with the injury.
Last year, McLaurin had 13 touchdowns in his 17 games while catching 82 passes for his fifth straight season with over 1,000 receiving yards. He still had 851 yards to go to hit that mark again this season, so he'll need to get back soon and be productive if he is going to reach that plateau once again.
In McLaurin's absence, offseason acquisition Deebo Samuel Sr. has stepped up with 17 targets in the last two weeks without McLaurin, while no other receiver has more than five targets. Samuel finished with 14 receptions for 168 yards and two scores in those two games while working from the outside for the most part, while Rookie Jaylin Lane has been operating out of the slot.
Lane was a fourth-round pick out of Virginia Tech and has flashed playmaking ability. He only has three catches for 34 yards over the last two weeks, but he showed his potential with this punt return in Week 3.
.@Commanders rookies keep racking up the @pepsi Zero Sugar Rookie of the Week awards‼️
WR Jaylin Lane is your winner for Week 3! pic.twitter.com/ecd1dYAvXi
— NFL (@NFL) September 25, 2025
Samuel is a solid WR2 while McLaurin is out, and Lane and Luke McCaffrey have stepped up enough to fill in with flier upside. Those three options would all get a boost against the Bears if McLaurin misses another week.
When McLaurin gets back, he'll likely resume his role as Jayden Daniels' top target and be a solid WR2 with WR1 upside if he gets back to his go-to role in the red zone.
Monitor his practices this week to see if he's able to get in any work before making the call on him for your lineups in Week 6. At this point, his return could be any week, but it's also important to have a backup plan in place since he hasn't actually been able to get on the field yet.
Who Should I Start Tool
Not sure who to start? Check out the Who Should I Start tool:
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Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some common Week 6 fantasy football lineup decisions are regarding players like Deebo Samuel Sr., Jakobi Meyers, DJ Moore, Khalil Shakir, Wan'Dale Robinson, Tee Higgins, Chris Godwin, Romeo Doubs. But not to worry, we are here to help make these decisions and build winning lineups in Week 6. Set your optimal fantasy football lineups for Week 6 of the 2025 NFL season. Our free Who Should I Start? tool will help make your fantasy football lineup decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to start... all free! Get your winning lineups set, and make the right decisions.
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Popular Week 6 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 6 (2025)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 6 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Below are some popular Week 6 searches and comparisons from our 'Who To Start' tool for Deebo Samuel Sr., Jakobi Meyers, DJ Moore, Khalil Shakir, Wan'Dale Robinson, Tee Higgins, Chris Godwin, Romeo Doubs compared to others:
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