The Washington Commanders did not hold practice this week, but that doesn't mean there is nothing to talk about involving the football team and so Ben Standig (in for Craig Hoffman) brought in Michael Phillips of the Richmond Times-Dispatch to talk about what's going on in Ashburn.
Standig and Phillips, who attended the Commanders' practices during OTAs, gave their impressions on the new Eric Bieniemy offense and how Sam Howell performed in the "back to school" portion of the offseason where players are just getting acclimated and things aren't too advanced.
Where are we at in the Sam Howell era? Phillips said there wasn't the action or competition to give the young passer much of a letter grade. But the former fifth-round pick did nothing to make him not the starter heading into training camp and, in Phillips' mind, Howell will be the starting quarterback in Week 1 against the Arizona Cardinals at FedEx Field, "barring an absolute meltdown... which I don't think will happen."
"I get the sense that Eric Bieniemy came in and told everybody, 'Hey, throw out what you're doing, throw out your ways of doing it, you're gonna learn some Eric Bieniemy football now and here's how it goes,'" Phillips told Team 980. "And they really started with those basic building blocks, building their way up to it. They've spent a lot of time together but there's still a lot to do. I think it will be a very busy training camp from that perspective."
Phillips said the next time we will get a good sense of how Howell stacks up and what this season might look like is at the joint practices the Commanders will hold ahead of preseason games. "Those will be a crucial couple of days out there in Baltimore in mid-August, I've got those circled."
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Standig added that those two practices and the preseason game against the Ravens (Washington's second) as the time when Ron Rivera and Bieniemy will truly get a complete perspective of where Howell stacks up in the QB competition with Jacoby Brissett. Plus, the Josh Harris ownership should be underway during that time, which perhaps could give the coaches a gauge on their comfort level if they start the season 1-3 with Howell, or if he is not quite ready enough they believe they have to add Brissett more into the mix to start in Week 1.
Phillips said Howell starts Week 1 and likely Week 2, but if the Commanders start 0-2, "you probably make the move because you still got enough time to salvage the season if everybody thinks that's what needs to be done. I don't like saying all that, cause that stinks going the whole offseason and then pulling the rip cord after two, but I think that's probably the reality of the situation."
If Howell floats around .500, though, Phillips said that is enough to keep Howell in the starting job, and added that there is pressure on Bieniemy as a first-time play caller and lead of an offense to have a good start.
Both agreed, the thing they don't want to see the city and the state of the fan base if the Commanders lose Week 1 to the Cardinals.
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