Dan Quinn has the perfect message for the Terry McLaurin contract drama and how it's typical NFL business as usual

The Washington Commanders are in a familiar spot when it comes to Terry McLaurin and mandatory minicamp, as the star wideout is skipping camp while he awaits a new deal, just like he did back in 2022.

It's not an ideal situation, but it's not time to hit the panic button. Dan Quinn, of course, was asked about it on Tuesday and he had a great perspective and perfect message regarding everything.

"The good news is lots of rapport has been built," Quinn told reporters when asked if McLaurin's absence can hurt the process of developing a rapport with the other guys on offense. "Those are all the times and you know, hours and hours upon doing that. Sometimes football and business, they intersect. And this is one of those times Terry is a fantastic teammate and really puts in the work and [we've] spent a lot of time with him, already, this offseason...

"... Adam and their crew and Terry and his group, let them work through that. But in the meantime... we try to customize as much as we can... Who can do some things, who can do everything, who needs to see more [reps] during this time of year, and who do we need to see less [of]? And so this is one of those times you're really able to customize the script and the work to do that."

Quinn is right on point with the business aspect and while McLaurin's absence is a firm message on his end, there's also strong logic behind it in the fact that if he suffers a freak injury (which happens often in football) then his chances of getting the deal he wants goes out the window.

During an offseason where the Commanders have touted their ability to keep the continuity alive in the coaching ranks and one where he's already played a full season with Jayden Daniels, it's totally benign for him to miss mandatory minicamp.

Now, if this bleeds into training camp, then that will be the time to start worrying. Not so much in the context of McLaurin potentially missing regular season games, because that's unlikely to happen. It would be in the context of McLaurin missing enough time to where he has to get his body acclimated to being in "football shape" and that affecting the early portion of his season. Not being in football shape also raises the chances of an injury, so there's that, as well.

The Commanders are clearly approaching this with a calm demeanor, which isn't a surprise. It's hard to foresee a future where McLaurin and Washington haven't worked things out - it's definitely a matter of "when" instead of "if".