Ron Rivera is spending the Super Bowl week collecting an honor for his service to U.S. military members and their families, waiting for his chance to interview Eric Bieniemy, and giving a lot of interviews.
And the Commanders head coach is talking to just about everybody out there at Super Bowl LVII about former fifth-round draft pick Sam Howell being Washington’s No. 1 quarterback. At least, Howell is right now, for the moment the guy who will be atop the depth chart.
“The biggest thing we decided is [Howell] will start out as QB1,” Rivera told ProFootballTalk. “He will most certainly get the first opportunity. We go into OTAs and minicamp, he’ll be QB1. He’ll fight for that position. We’ll give him every opportunity to earn it, and we’ll see what happens once we get into training camp and through it.”
He told ESPN’s John Keim: “Going in, [Howell will] start as the No. 1 but it's something he has to continue to earn and show us he deserves to be that guy.”
But that doesn’t mean Howell is the starter as Rivera made clear in an interview with The Athletic’s Ben Standig.
“I’m not saying he’s the starter. I’m saying he will start as the guy with the first chance, but he will have some competition,” Rivera said before adding he likes Taylor Heinicke and would like to see if the Commanders can bring him back in free agency.
“We got to go out and look and see if there’s another veteran guy we want to bring in as competition,” he told Standig. “I’m not anointing anybody. I’m just telling (Sam) this is his opportunity, but he will be challenged.”
Related
But Howell being the starter in Week 1 – the fourth new opening day starter in Rivera’s four years in Washington – is in the second-year passer’s hands.
"It’s his opportunity. This is a challenge to him," Rivera told NFL Network. "If [Howell] comes out and does the thing he's capable of, we believe he's capable of, he can most certainly be our guy. But we'll find out. Again, that’s what competitions gonna do, it’s gonna bring out the best in all our guys.”
But Rivera said the competition this offseason will not come from a veteran starter and they will not “spend a lot of capital on” that type of guy.
“We want to find the right situation — a guy that can come in and be that supporting guy that can really help [Howell] grow and become the guy that gives you an opportunity to win football games,” Rivera said on PFT Live about the offseason plans.
Follow @BenKrimmel and @Team980 for more.
Related
Related
