Terry McLaurin didn’t catch the now-iconic Hail Mary, but he did have five grabs for 125 yards in that game, including the penultimate catch that set up the final play – and that’s off a week where he had six for 98 against Carolina, and a two-touchdown game against Baltimore the week before.
But as a wide receiver himself, Santana Moss saw all he needed to see in Cincinnati, where Terry had 100 yards and a TD, to know McLaurin is stoked to finally have a QB like Jayden Daniels.
“I’ve watched Terry for years and he's got the job done regardless, but I can feel the energy is different from him,” Moss told BMitch & Finlay Friday. “After that Cincinnati game, he came and gave me a hug and said they could cancel Christmas now because the young man knows that he can count on me. That's all I needed, because that's what every receiver feels once the quarterback understands who he has as a target: the sky's the limit, and I think that's what you're seeing right now.”
Moss thinks that if you look at the first three weeks, Daniels was spreading the ball around, trying to find ‘his guy,’ and McLaurin, as the clear No. 1 receiver, was certainly getting the ‘take him away’ treatment from defenses. But now, it seems, QB1 and WR1 have found that connection.
“Now, it’s like Jayden doesn’t even think twice when he see Terry with that favorable matchup, and you saw it last week – he tried to go to him on the sideline and it was a little too high, and he came back the next play and hit him 50 yards down the field,” Moss said. “That’s what he feels when he's out there with Terry, and Terry let him know that from day one, he’s up close and personal, trying to make that connection. I love watching him go out there and do his thing on the field.”
Moss had a lot of different QBs in his career, just as McLaurin has, so he especially knows what it’s been like and what it means to Terry to finally have this.
“You ever played Mario Brothers, when he ate that mushroom and he’s just on fire? That’s how you feel, man; you feel like you can't be stopped,” Moss said. “The things that I felt with Mark Brunell is the same thing I felt with Vinny Testaverde when I was in New York. It was like nothing you could present to me was gonna stop me unless you double me, and even then, sometimes, they found a way to get me the ball. That's what I'm seeing now with this connection with Jayden and Terry; there’s nothing you can do to stop these guys, and one of the things that goes along with having two dynamic players like that is having a great OC who can dial it up for you, knowing the guys are going out there and getting the job done every time he calls that play.”
Take a listen to Moss’ entire visit, as he discusses the Giants game on Sunday, his thoughts on the Hail Jayden, the energy around the team, and more!