When Terry McLaurin caught his first pass against the Philadelphia Eagles on Tuesday, it added another name to a list that Washington Football Team fans and McLaurin wish didn’t exist.
McLaurin, the team’s star wide receiver in his third season, sped past shutdown corner Darius Slay on a double-move, fought for the football and came down with a 46-yard reception. The name added to the list, though, wasn’t McLaurin or Slay.
It was Garrett Gilbert.
With the completion, Gilbert, Washington’s starting quarterback Tuesday in the team’s 27-17 loss to the Eagles, became the seventh signal caller to connect with McLaurin in his young career — a sobering sign of the dysfunction Washington has seen at the position. The other quarterbacks on the list — which doesn’t include Week 1 starter Ryan Fitzpatrick, who has been out since with a hip injury — are Taylor Heinicke, Kyle Allen, Alex Smith, Dwayne Haskins, Colt McCoy and Case Keenum.
Gilbert, whose name was hardly known by football fans a week ago and will likely be part of trivia questions in the District for years to come, was thrust behind center in a crucial game Tuesday due to Washington’s COVID-19 outbreak that has seen about two dozen players test positive in the last two weeks, including Heinicke and Allen.
“I have nothing but respect for Garrett,” McLaurin said. “For [him] to come here midweek and be expected to not only start at quarterback but to help us try to get into the playoffs, it’s nothing but respect for him.”
Gilbert, who was signed off New England’s practice squad last week and only practiced three days with the team, completed 20 of 31 passes for 198 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.
“He gave a heck of an effort,” Washington coach Ron Rivera said. “… He made some plays. He fought and he battled.”
“He’s a good player, and he got the start for a reason,” said Eagles linebacker T.J. Edwards. “He came in and made the right reads and kept his team in the game.”
Overall, Gilbert wasn’t bad enough to lose the game for Washington, which fell to 6-8 and to the periphery of the NFC playoff picture with the loss. But he also didn’t have it in him Tuesday night to put the Burgundy and Gold on his back and carry them to victory — a position the team’s defense forced him in after surrendering 519 total yards to the Jalen Hurts-led Eagles offense.
“I felt really good about the position we put ourselves in. I just didn’t make enough plays for us at the end,” Gilbert said.
Gilbert, 30, is the definition of an NFL journeyman.
The former University of Texas and Southern Methodist quarterback was drafted in the sixth round of the 2014 draft by the St. Louis Rams. Washington became the eighth NFL uniform Gilbert has donned, although usually as a practice squad player. Tuesday was the second start of his NFL career, with the first coming last season — also due to COVID-19 — for the Dallas Cowboys.
“Obviously, a little bit of a whirlwind,” Gilbert said about the past week.
In addition to Washington’s poor defensive performance, the team’s inefficient rushing attack also didn’t do Gilbert any favors.
During Washington’s four-game winning streak, the Antonio Gibson-led backfield was averaging 137 yards per game. But against the Eagles, Washington ran for only 63 yards on 21 carries. It was even worse for Gibson, who played through a toe injury he sustained in the first quarter and totaled just 26 yards and a touchdown on 15 totes.
Gilbert’s mediocre performance doesn’t mean he was without his moments.
The deep pass to McLaurin in the first quarter was one of them, although the play could’ve been a touchdown if the pass wasn’t underthrown. He also managed an offense that took advantage of two first-quarter turnovers from Hurts — one interception and one fumble, both credited to Washington safety Landon Collins. Then, with the team down 10, he led a 61-yard touchdown drive — propelled by a 29-yard strike to John Bates to set up a 1-yard touchdown from Jaret Patterson — to pull within three points early in the fourth quarter.
But it was the stagnation of the offense in the second and third quarters — in conjunction with Washington’s porous defense — that let the air out of the balloon that was a 10-0 first quarter lead and allowed Philadelphia to score 20 unanswered points. Washington moved the chains only twice in its five drives after taking the 10-0 lead.
“His timing and rhythm were off a little bit,” Rivera said. “It showed when we got in a couple of situations that he hadn’t had enough reps.”
Now, Gilbert’s future with Washington remains up in the air.
Heinicke and Allen remain on the COVID-19 list. Sunday’s game against Dallas is past the 10-day window for both players, but that isn’t a guarantee that either, or both, is a guarantee to be available for the game.
“The [roster decisions] are out of my control,” Gilbert said. “I will continue to prepare and get ready.”
