The Washington Commanders are coming out of their bye week at 1-4-1 with matchups against the Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Rams on deck.
But any second-half push will have to happen without Terry McLaurin, who tore his left patellar tendon in a game against the 49ers on Oct. 19.
Which means Monday's injury updates from coach Dan Quinn were welcome news for Washington.
Quinn said that Treylon Burks, who left the matchup against the 49ers with an injury, should work back into practice this week.
Stefon Diggs also appears ready to have a full week of practice — he's been dealing with a hamstring issue and appeared to hurt his hand in the matchup at the 49ers.
Diggs, Burks and rookie Antonio Williams are expected to be the team’s starting receiving trio moving forward.
The workload for Diggs, absent McLaurin, is not expected to change. Rather, it'll be on others to step up without their top wide receiver in the lineup.
McLaurin leads the team with 230 yards in five games, though Diggs leads the team with 24 catches and four receiving touchdowns.
“Stef is doing well," Quinn said. "Workload shouldn’t change as much, I think it’ll be others that would climb up more. Antonio is one that you’d see getting more targets to go. We’ll look through the week as we’re gonna go, but I like Stef, especially on the options — the third downs, the things that he can do.”
Quinn also said that defensive lineman Javon Kinlaw is not trending back as fast as the team had hoped as he recovers from a knee injury. His status will be updated later in the week.
Quarterback Marcus Mariota and defensive lineman Charles Omenihu will be back at practice for the team on Monday as well.
See AP’s full NFL coverage here
Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin (17) is carted off the field during the first half of an NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers in Santa Clara, Calif., Monday, Oct. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Kelley L. Cox)
Washington Commanders wide receiver Treylon Burks (13) cannot catch a pass while being defended by San Francisco 49ers safety Malik Mustapha during the second half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Monday, Oct. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Kelley L. Cox)
Washington Commanders wide receiver Stefon Diggs (3) scores past San Francisco 49ers cornerback Upton Stout (20) during the second half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Monday, Oct. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Kelley L. Cox)
BRASILIA (AP) — President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva 's comeback to win Brazil’s presidential runoff Sunday is already facing its first hurdle as his competitor, Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, challenges the results, setting the stage for a possible showdown between the country’s two polarizing political forces.
Lula, who convinced an extra 10.4 million voters to support him in the runoff, is expected to take office on Jan. 5, 2027, for his fourth non-consecutive term. He will serve as a counterweight in a region where leaders are shifting to the right and aligning with U.S. President Donald Trump. Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, promised to cozy up to the Trump administration.
At a news conference Sunday, Bolsonaro said he planned to request an annulment of the election following a chaotic extension of voting at the request of both candidates. However, it's unclear what legal avenue he would have to do that. His father, now serving a 27-year sentence for a coup attempt, contested his loss to Lula four years ago. Flavio Bolsonaro visited his father, who is under house arrest, on Monday, the younger Bolsonaro's public relations office said.
Early signs from Brazil’s institutions and from leaders across the region, including conservative presidents who oppose Lula, suggest the results will be respected nationally and internationally. Trump has yet to weigh in.
Even with the vote extension, Lula’s win was decisive. The soon-to-be 81-year-old incumbent won more than 64 million votes compared to just under 60 million for Bolsonaro, a margin of nearly 4%.
President of Brazil’s electoral authority, Kassio Nunes, who was appointed to the Supreme Court by ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, was among those who recognized Lula’s victory Sunday.
“This is a really uphill battle for Flavio Bolsonaro. Important Brazilian power brokers are closing ranks behind Lula, sometimes begrudgingly," said Brian Winter, Brazil analyst and editor-in-chief of Americas Quarterly.
“I sense that Brazilian power brokers that matter don’t really want to go down the path of a truly contested election,” he said.
The key to Lula’s win was the additional 14.1 million voters who showed up for the second-round election, including those who voted for other candidates in the first round. Analysts say three-quarters of those votes went to Lula, handing him the victory. And notably, the first round set a record for the number of Brazilians who decided not to vote, while the second round had the least number of abstentions ever.
Lula gave his digital campaign to lawmaker André Janones, who mounted a fierce and persistent social media operation that mobilized many of those previously uncommitted voters. Janones' key tool was a channel on messaging app WhatsApp called “Lula's Army,” which gathered almost 11 million people and mobilized them to campaign via social media for the incumbent.
Janones “basically embraced the right’s style of aggressive politics, very intense, constant messaging,” said Oliver Stuenkel, a professor of International Relations at Fundação Getulio Vargas in Sao Paulo.
“The defeat in the first round jolted the Lula campaign into action. The strategy during the first round was lackluster and saw a lot of infighting,” Stuenkel said.
Juliano Cortinhas, international relations professor at the University of Brasília, said Lula's social media initiative in the runoff was also key to pressuring Meta, the owner of Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook, to end what the president's campaign denounced as bias helping Bolsonaro.
Brazil’s top electoral court ruled on Oct.15 that Meta must adopt measures that assure equal treatment of the two presidential candidates, which the company later said it addressed.
There was “external interference we were suffering by major platforms,” Cortinhas said. “It wasn't only Meta, many others were using their algorithms to repost many images and many messages of the far-right, and they did not do the same to the left.”
It was the first time since 1989 that a candidate came from behind in the first round to win in the second.
Results show voter turnout surged overall, particularly in wealthier metropolitan centers, but Lula achieved his highest gains in lower-income municipalities where his base was already established. He mobilized former non-voters, those who voted blank in the first round and supporters of third-party candidates.
Jorge Henrique Oliveira Sena, a 26-year-old maintenance worker in Brasilia, was one of those who didn’t vote in the first round. Neither candidate excited him much, but he cast his vote for Lula. “It’s not a question of supporting, but between the two, I had more of a connection with him,” he said.
Brazil holds general elections every four years, and its electronic voting machines have made the tallying process quick and secure.
Brazilian authorities adopted electronic voting machines in the 1990s to combat fraud and the system has been largely reliable since then. Results are usually reported mere hours after polls close.
In the lead-up to the 2022 vote, Jair Bolsonaro repeatedly cast unfounded doubts on Brazil’s electronic voting system. No significant fraud has ever been detected.
But the usually swift voting process was thrown into disarray Sunday after a last-minute decision to extend voting nationwide at both candidates’ requests.
Lula made the request because of issues with public transportation in metropolis, Sao Paulo, and the northeastern city of Salvador, two of his strongholds. Bolsonaro requested it after heavy rains in the south, which he won by a strong margin in the first round.
The decision was made by a Supreme Court justice mere minutes before polls were set to close at 5 p.m. and the speed of Brazil’s counting process meant many polling stations didn’t receive the news until they were already wrapping up.
Yet given the reliability of Brazil's voting system and Lula's win by a significant margin, a path to annul the results could be difficult for Bolsonaro.
Benjamin Gedan, senior fellow and director of the Stimson Center Latin America program, said Bolsonaro's rejection of his loss was not surprising.
“False claims of fraud are becoming commonplace, though that does not make them any less dangerous," he said. He noted “Lula’s margin of victory, and the quick recognition of the result by conservative leaders in the region."
Nevertheless, Lula still faces challenges moving forward, including political polarization in the country, a possible fiscal crisis and a right-wing Congress in which Bolsonaro's party will have more seats than any other. Bolsonaro himself remains a senator, though his term ends in January.
“We shouldn’t underestimate the power of the Bolsonaro family," said Winter, the Brazil analyst. "They can make life difficult for Lula for weeks and months to come.”
Savarese reported from Sao Paulo.
Supporters of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva celebrate after he wins a fourth term in the presidential runoff in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva addresses supporters during a victory rally after winning a fourth term in the presidential runoff on Paulista Avenue in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
Opposition presidential candidate Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro speaks after the presidential runoff in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Opposition presidential candidate Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro speaks after the presidential runoff in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva addresses supporters during a victory rally after winning a fourth term in the presidential runoff on Paulista Avenue in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
