Getty Image / Scott Taetsch
Heading into this NFL offseason, the Washington Commanders seemed to have a pretty clear plan at quarterback.
They were going to turn to Sam Howell under center after he had a solid debut at the end of the 2022 season.
There were even reports that they were telling prospective offensive coordinators that he would be the starter they’d be working with.
Despite that, the team picked up Jacoby Brissett to add a veteran to the QB room.
So far, the expectation has remained that Sam Howell would be the starter in Week 1.
That may not actually be the case though.
While answering a question about Sam Howell before yesterday’s practice, Ron Rivera reminded reporters not to sleep on Brissett.
LIVE: Coach Rivera speaks to the media before Wednesday's practice https://t.co/z5s8DngDj5
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) August 2, 2023
“Well, I think to me it’s right now, this is all the growth and development opportunity. This is a chance to learn the base fundamentals of our offense. And he’s been doing it since OTA’s and minicamp. Now we’re in training camp, we’re in our eighth day now. So all these things are coming together. What you really need to look for is when we get on the field, when we do gameplan, when we do prepare. I know it’s just preseason games, but those are going to be paramount to telling everybody where he is, what’s his growth. And at the same time as I’ve said a couple times, don’t sleep on [QB] Jacoby [Brissett], he’s done a nice job as well. I mean, we got some really good quarterback play going on right now. We’ve got a real good quarterback room.”
Coaches praise a lot of players in the lead up to each NFL season, so this could just be coach speak, but it is interesting that Rivera threw Brissett into the answer to a question about Howell.
The 2nd-year QB isn’t exactly a proven commodity while Jacoby Brissett for 4 different teams over the last 7 seasons.
For now, Sam Howell is still the frontrunner for the Washington Commanders’ job, but we may need to wait to see him in action during the pre-season to find out just how strong of a hold he has on the job.