Sam Howell remains the QB1 in DC, even after being benched Sunday and watching Jacoby Brissett lead two strong touchdown drives in relief – and in his usual Tuesday visit with the Junkies, Rick “Doc” Walker, who has now come around to embrace the tank, had a ridiculous analogy for what’s going on inside the Commanders’ building as it pertains to a QB ‘controversy.’
“It’s like the first time you leave your kids with a babysitter that’s not family – you don’t trust them, but everyone tells you really nice, but you come home and there’s beer cans everywhere, you can smell the herb, and your kids are up at midnight,” Doc said, sounding as if maybe he’s seen that? “This is so poorly operated that you don’t have any idea what’s going to happen the next three weeks. Everyone wants to wonder if Sam’s the guy…it doesn’t matter, because they’re going to blow everything up.”
We’ve seen this play before at the end of several other eras, although this implosion is much, much worse, especially for fans.
“This is different – everything you illustrated yesterday is true: at what point, if you really truly care, can you not be at your wit’s end? And it’s not over,” Doc said. “If that was the last game of the season, okay, we pop the cork and move on, but we have to go through this three more times.”
So, that said, in the context of Sam vs. Jacoby, EB is in favor of a mental reset for Howell, and wondered if maybe Howell could learn from a week of watching Brissett – even at the risk of exposing Howell’s flaws – and Doc says there’s value in a good backup.
“Look at the league, you have a dozen backups playing. I value Jacoby, I’m pleased he can come in there and not crap the bed,” Doc said.
“There’s A DOZEN BACKUPS playing, get with it! It’s not just one guy that leads you the whole year, and you need as many good players as you can get at every position.”
That all said, it depends on who comes in as the next GM and coach, but Doc would keep Howell around as an option for 2024.
“I’ve not lost faith, because it’s process. It seems now like he’s spooked, but he’s human,” Doc said. “If he lives through three more games, he’s in my mix to compete. Everybody is going to compete, because I don’t have any reservations for a team in last place – every job is open. And, you have no idea what the next group’s philosophy is going to be.”
Take a listen to Doc’s entire segment discussing the Commanders’ situation above!
