Commanders’ Noah Brown Carted Off – Veteran WR's Minicamp Injury Sends Shockwaves Through D.C.

It's awesome to see players back on the field at NFL minicamps across the league. What we don't love, though, is to see players leaving practice on carts.

Unfortunately, it's usually inevitable in football. On Wednesday, the cart was on the field at Washington Commanders practice for wide receiver Noah Brown.

WR Noah Brown Leaves Commanders Minicamp on Cart: Report

The Washington Post's Nicki Jhabvala reported Wednesday that Brown exited Washington's minicamp after suffering an apparent injury. The receiver went down in seven-on-seven drills and appeared to immediately know something was wrong.

Jhabvala tweeted Brown threw his helmet after reaching the sidelines.

The veteran wideout has been a quality receiver in his NFL career, especially since leaving a crowded receiver situation with the Dallas Cowboys.

Brown's emergence came during his final season with the Cowboys in 2022. Since then, he's had at least 450 receiving yards in three straight years.

During his first season with the Commanders last year, Brown posted 35 catches, 453 receiving yards and one touchdown on 56 targets.

Fantasy Pros has Brown ranked the No. 126 overall receiver in re-draft PPR formats for 2025. That means Brown doesn't have much fantasy value outside of deep leagues -- with 14 or 16 teams -- or in formats with multiple FLEX spots.

Still, Brown's departure is notable because it will impact the Commanders offense, which grew into one of the better units in the league last season behind rookie signal-caller Jayden Daniels.

How Brown Injury May Impact Terry McLaurin, Deebo Samuel, Other Commanders WR

McLaurin is Washington's best receiver. That's not changing regardless of who is on the field with the Commanders this season.

But McLaurin is notably seeking a new contract this offseason. He hasn't been in attendance at Washington's minicamp this week.

The Commanders should have wanted to sign McLaurin to a new deal anyway. He's been Mr. consistent for the team through some recent dark days and then was Daniels' favorite target during his rookie season.

But there could be even more urgency now for Washington to sign McLaurin if Brown's injury is serious.

If Washington lost McLaurin to an offseason trade because of his contract dispute and Brown to an injury, then the Commanders would be losing two of their top three receivers from last season. They already lost the other one -- Olamide Zaccheaus -- to free agency.

Deebo Samuel will replace Zaccheaus as Washington's No. 2 wideout this fall. Samuel hasn't been able to replicate his 2021 All-Pro season and is now 29 years old. San Francisco 49ers pundits questioned Samuel's work ethic this offseason.

But Samuel will see an uptick in value if Brown's injury sidelines him long term.

Samuel posted 51 catches, 670 receiving yards and three touchdowns in 15 games last season. He had 60 receptions, 892 yards and seven scores in 2023.

Other youngsters such as Luke McCaffrey and Jaylin Lane will see an increase in their fantasy value as well if Brown is out for a significant time. The Commanders drafted McCaffrey in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft. As a rookie, he had 18 catches for 168 yards last year.

Washington added Lane in the fourth round this spring.

Let's hope Brown's injury isn't serious, and if it is, that he has a speedy recovery. If it is indeed a serious injury, though, there will naturally be more opportunities for the other Washington pass-catchers.