Treylon Burks has a bigger job in front of him on Sunday night. With Terry McLaurin out for the season, the Washington Commanders wide receiver is in line for more snaps and targets when Washington hosts the Philadelphia Eagles, and he says he is ready for it. “We’re extremely excited, man,” Burks said this week. “We’re not worried about what’s going on, the record. We’re just here to play football, play great football and win games.”
Burks, 26, is having the best start of his five NFL seasons. He has nine catches for 152 yards and two touchdowns in five games, already more touchdowns than he has scored in any full season. He was listed as questionable with a foot injury after limited practices on Wednesday and Friday, but Adam Schefter reported on Sunday morning that Burks is expected to play.
“One of the reasons that I’m back here”
McLaurin tore his patellar tendon in the 23-17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on October 19. Burks said he told McLaurin how much he has meant to him. “It sucks, man. Just like I told Terry, he’s one of the reasons that I’m back here, one of the reasons that I’m playing the way I’m playing, just because of the person that he is,” Burks said. “He don’t ride the highs and lows. He stays neutral the whole time.”
He added: “I don’t think he’s ever had a surgery, had any type of injury like that ever, and a guy like him, you know, you hurt for him.” But he also said McLaurin will be “perfectly fine” because of the person he is.
Asked whether people now see this as “Burks time,” he did not take the bait. “I don’t predict the future,” he said. “I don’t say anything about what I’m going to do. I just let God take care of it, and things happen.”
Lighter and asking more questions
Burks was a first-round pick of the Tennessee Titans in 2022 out of Arkansas, but injuries kept him to 27 games and one touchdown in three seasons there. He joined Washington in 2025. Asked what is different now, he started with his health. Then he explained what he changed in the offseason. “My biggest thing this offseason was to lose as much weight as I could,” he said, so he could be “faster, leaner.” Once training camp started, he said, “it worked. I’m able to stay on the field longer, go longer drives, run faster.”
He also changed how he works with his coaches and quarterbacks. “I’m quiet. I’m chill. I’m laid back,” Burks said. “But I’ve definitely came out of my shell on the aspect of just asking questions. I used to didn’t ask questions, not saying like I had the big head or I knew everything. It was just because I’m a reserved person, so I sit back and I listen.” He said he now does extra walkthroughs, studies the playbook more and goes back over his old film, asking himself whether he was doing the right things on each route. “I just feel like I’m in a great place,” he said.
“Make a play for the rookie”
His biggest play this season came in London on October 4. With rookie Athan Kaliakmanis at quarterback after Marcus Mariota was hurt, Burks beat his man with a double move and caught a 47-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter of the 30-13 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Burks said he was told on the sideline, “We’re gonna need you to make a play,” and he felt it coming. “I was just like, I’m just going to go make a play, but I’m not going to try to do anything different,” he said. “Make a play for the rookie.”
He was also asked about a catch near the pylon that was ruled incomplete. “I knew what it was,” he said, but he blamed himself. “Next time, just do your best to hold on to it a little bit longer,” he said. “Don’t give it to the referees, don’t give it to the guys upstairs. … Get up and go make another play.”
“It’s eventually gonna stop”
The Commanders are 1-4-1 and come off their bye week, which Burks called a chance to “regroup, get our bodies right” and “refresh, reflect on some things.” He described the team’s mood with a picture. “Sometimes that storm just sits over your house and it rains and rains and rains and rains, but it’s eventually going to stop,” he said. “That’s just the mentality that we have for ourselves: keep putting our best foot forward and working and correcting, controlling the things we can control, and everything else will take care of itself.”
The 1-4-1 Commanders host the 2-5 Eagles on Sunday, November 1, at 8:20 p.m. ET, which is 3:20 a.m. Monday in Cairo.
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