It's difficult to find the words to describe exactly what it is that Taylor Heinicke has, Terry McLaurin says, but whatever 'it' is, Heinicke has it.
During his weekly appearance with 106.7 The Fan's Grant Paulsen and Danny Rouhier, McLaurin was asked what it is that seems to make Washington teammates gravitate towards Heinicke.
"I think the number one thing is just his mentality," McLaurin said. "He's not really a loud guy back there — you know, yelling, screaming, super hyped — but it's almost something you can't necessarily describe, but when you're a football player, it's like, 'Yeah, he has it.' You know what I mean?"
"You just see the way he carries himself in the building," he said. "Like I said, he's a great pro, he takes care of his body, and he's always prepared for his moment. And you can respect that. And you know he's tough — he doesn't really duck out of bounds. He's gonna fight for those extra yards no matter what, and you want to fight with a guy like that. You want to play with a guy like that, because you know he's gonna put himself on the line to make sure we put ourselves in the best position to be successful."
"You can't necessarily describe what Taylor has to a tee," he continued, "but it's just something that you can't really coach or teach. I'm really looking forward to seeing how we grow with him as the weeks go on."
McLaurin was asked for the biggest differences in QB play between Heinicke and Ryan Fitzpatrick, who's on Injured Reserve after injuring his hip in Week 1.
"They're both very poised," he said. "I think we're spoiled to have that, both quarterbacks where they have a sense of calm coming into the huddle, and they're very concise on what the play call is and what everybody's job is while they're saying the play in the huddle. So I think we benefit from that as an offense because we don't really have a lot of procedural issues, so that really helps."
"And then just their preparation is obviously a lot similar," he continued. "I think Taylor is really a great playmaker back there. You know, he extends plays. But Fitz can do that, too. We just didn't necessarily get the chance to see it yet.
"But Taylor, like I've always said, he's just a guy who's always ready for his opportunity and I respect that most about him. No matter how many reps he got in the offseason, he comes in prepared and he's always looking to get better and try to have everybody involved. When you see him back there, you know the play's never dead and you have an opportunity to make a big one, so you've just got to try to be where you need to be when he needs you to be there."
