Commanders star Terry McLaurin carted off after knee injury early in matchup vs. 49ers

The Washington Commanders lost star wide receiver Terry McLaurin early on Monday night after he went down with what appears to be a significant knee injury.

McLaurin was running a route near the end of the first quarter of their matchup with the San Francisco 49ers when he suddenly fell near the sidelines at Levi’s Stadium. It wasn’t immediately clear what happened exactly, but it looked as if McLaurin’s left knee just gave out on him as he was planting to the outside.

He remained down on the field for quite some time in front of the Commanders’ bench, clearly in a lot of pain.

A cart eventually came out for McLaurin, and he hopped up and onto the back of it on his own with his entire left leg in a full air cast. The team quickly ruled him out with a knee injury, but further specifics are not yet known.

McLaurin had one catch for 27 yards in the contest before he went down.

McLaurin entered the contest with 203 receiving yards and a single touchdown in four games this season, his eighth in the league with the Commanders. He missed the team’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts in London due to a hamstring injury he suffered at practice before that contest, but he returned the following week normally. 

While it’s unclear how long McLaurin may be sidelined, the injury is a tough sign for a Commanders group that is already struggling this fall. The team entered Monday night’s contest with just a 1-3-1 record, fresh off a tie to the Giants last week that was the result of a mismanaged clock and a botched ending. The NFC East is still wide open, so the Commanders aren’t out of the playoff hunt at all, but losing a target like McLaurin is absolutely going to make things much more difficult for Daniels as they approach the midway point of the season.

This post will be updated with more information shortly.