BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Better safe than sorry.
That’s the approach of the Browns defense leading up to Sunday’s game at Washington where they will face Carson Wentz at quarterback.
Wednesday morning Commanders head coach Ron Rivera announced it would be Wentz who will be under center this week.
“Got to prepare for both,” cornerback Greg Newsome II said. “Especially a quarterback situation where it's not necessarily stable, you don't really know who's going to play. So you always gotta prepare for both.”
Rivera is going with Wentz, who suffered a broken finger in Week 6 and landed on injured reserve, over Taylor Heinicke. Rivera benched Heinicke in the fourth quarter last week at San Francisco.
After the Commanders started 2-4, Heinicke helped them win five of seven to vault into playoff contention at 7-7-1.
“There is plenty of tape on both players in their scheme,” Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “I would say things are a little bit different with each guy. They are playing to their strengths.”
Wentz was passed up by the Browns in the 2016 NFL Draft after Cleveland traded their No. 2 overall pick to Philadelphia. The Eagles picked Wentz and he completed 22 of 37 passes for 278 yards and a pair of touchdowns in his NFL regular season debut against the Browns.
The Browns got the best of Wentz during the 2020 season where he completed 21 of 35 passes for 235 yards but he was sacked five times and threw two touchdowns and two interceptions.
“We know how talented he is,” Stefanski said. “He is really big. Great arm strength. Can make a ton of plays off schedule. Coming off of the injury, I think he looks healthy and he looks fresh. He did a lot of nice things. That wide receiving corps is explosive. He is surrounded by some really good players, a good tight end and big, powerful, physical running backs. It is a tough task, and he is a good player.”
Statistically, Wentz and Heinicke look similar.
In six games Wentz has completed 62.9% of his passes for 1,612 yards with 11 touchdowns, six interceptions and a rating of 86.3 while Heinicke has completed 62.2% of his passes for 1,859 yards with 12 touchdowns, six interceptions and a rating of 89.6 in seven games.
On the field, Newsome explained the difference in how they play the game.
“Heinicke's that play action type of quarterback, smaller guy, so he is that play action type of dude,” Newsome said. “He can really throw the deep ball very well. He's an improviser, so he's kind of like that Russell Wilson where a lot of stuff breaks down, he's able to use his legs to make stuff happen. Then Carson Wentz, obviously big arm, strong arm guy, straight just drop back type of guy, not really that play action pass type of dude.
“They're both very good quarterbacks, but you can tell when one is in versus the other, the offense is going to be a little bit different.”
Washington can clinch a playoff spot with a win over the Browns plus a Seahawks and Lions loss and a Packers loss or tie this weekend.
