Terry McLaurin's knee injury casts a long shadow over the Commanders' wreckage in Santa Clara
Washington's top receiver was carted off in the first quarter of Monday's 23-17 loss to San Francisco, leaving a 1-4-1 team with one fewer weapon and a lot more questions about where this season is going.
In brief
McLaurin carted off, Quinn under fire: Washington's worst night of a brutal year
The scoreboard already said 13-3 when Terry McLaurin's left knee buckled at Levi's Stadium and the cart came out. Everything that followed Monday night, the second-half rally, Jayden Daniels pushing the Commanders within a score, a frantic final drive that died short of the end zone, happened in the shadow of that moment. Washington lost 23-17. And it may have lost a lot more than a football game.
McLaurin appeared to suffer a left knee injury and was carted off the field in the first quarter of Washington's Monday night matchup against the San Francisco 49ers. On the Commanders' second drive, McLaurin collapsed while running a route on third-and-9 toward Washington's sideline, clutching his left knee as he hit the ground before hobbling onto the cart after the medical staff secured a brace on his injured leg.
McLaurin had caught a 27-yard pass on the first drive to set up a field goal and was second on the team in receptions with 15, carrying a team-high 230 yards receiving with one touchdown. Then he was gone, and Washington was staring at a two-score hole without the only receiver who had been dependable all season.
Coach Dan Quinn told reporters the injury "could be significant." McLaurin will undergo more testing Tuesday to determine the severity, and Quinn said, "There's fear" about what the results might show.
McLaurin had surpassed 1,000 receiving yards in five straight seasons from 2020 through 2024 before injuries limited him to just 10 games in 2025. He also missed the Commanders' Week 4 loss to Indianapolis with a hamstring injury. He could now miss 20 games across two years, 17 more than the three games he'd missed across his entire first six NFL seasons.
The injury leaves Washington with a receiver room cobbled together from spare parts. Veteran Stefon Diggs figures to see more targets, with Dyami Brown, Treylon Burks, and Antonio Williams also likely seeing increased playing time. None of them are McLaurin.
Quinn's fourth-down moment goes viral
The McLaurin news wasn't the only thing that followed the Commanders off the field. Quinn found himself at the center of another controversy after television cameras captured a puzzling reaction to Washington's failed fourth-down attempt in the first half. Facing fourth-and-goal, Washington's attempt unraveled when an illegal shift penalty was declined, resulting in a turnover on downs, and a sideline clip sparked questions about whether Quinn and his staff understood the situation.
Quinn pushed back against suggestions that the Washington sideline lost track of the down, insisting he knew exactly what was at stake during the late-game sequence and explaining that the team deliberately chose aggression over settling for a field goal. That explanation landed cold on social media and among analysts. It was the second consecutive week Quinn had to explain an in-game procedural failure in front of cameras.
The Commanders' loss left them at 1-4-1, with the season threatening to unravel. The NFC East is the first division since the 1970 merger to go winless in back-to-back weeks with every team playing. Washington is fourth in that mess.
How long does Quinn keep the job?
The question hanging over the bye week is plain: is Dan Quinn still the right coach for this team?
The Commanders went 12-5 in Quinn's first season in 2024, but since then his team has posted a 6-15-1 record, putting his job security in serious jeopardy in Year 3. The NFC Championship appearance from two years ago feels like a different franchise.
A source familiar with internal leadership conversations told ESPN that Quinn's job is not in immediate jeopardy and that isn't likely to change during the season. Ownership is aware of the support Quinn has in the locker room and knows the team has been hit hard by injuries over two seasons. With multiple players returning or close to it, and a division that appears up for grabs, they want to see how the group responds.
But the outside voices are getting louder. Pro Football Network analyst Caleb Yaccarino wrote that "Jayden Daniels has unlimited potential and can lead this team to wins, but coaching is holding him back," calling it "a fireable offense" and adding that Washington "must" move on from Quinn "at some point this season." Analyst Jason Katz cited "too many in-game blunders, too many penalties, too much lack of discipline," placing blame squarely on the coach and adding, "This team is very clearly going nowhere this year. If you're gonna fire Quinn after the season, just do it now."
According to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, owner Josh Harris "has never been a believer in midseason coaching changes," and the expectation, barring obvious signs the team has quit on their coach, is that Quinn gets the rest of the season to show he can turn things around.
Washington heads into the bye at 1-4-1, with its best receiver possibly done for the year, its coach defending sideline confusion on video, and a schedule that shows a trip to the Giants in Week 10. Mark Maske of Front Office Sports adds it "seems unlikely" an in-season change is coming at this point. That could change fast.
Testing on McLaurin's knee takes place Tuesday. Quinn is still employed. Neither situation is stable.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
