If John Feinstein was joining the Junkies for their Holiday Show, he would have joined in on a nice Chardonnay…but he’s not, as “Friday with Feinstein” had a special Thursday edition this week because he didn’t want to interrupt the fellas’ celebration.
And this week, in addition to the usual golf talk, the big topic was still Sam Howell and both his benching Sunday and future in DC, and John is one who doesn’t think a break is worthwhile for Howell.
“Unless there's a reason why he would need a break and a reset, whether it's mentally or physically – I mean, he played poorly in Los Angeles and hasn't played very well in the last few weeks – a lot of rookies run into a wall,” Feinstein said. “So I think you got to play it out with Sam Howell and get to know as much as you possibly can about him in these next three games.”
We know what Jacoby Brissett is, and in Feinstein;s eyes, he’s a “solid backup who is decent when he has to start,” and John is all about re-signing Brissett as next year’s backup to whomever is QB1…a position he still thinks Howell can fill.
“I still like Sam Howell and think he has the potential to be a very good quarterback in this league,” John said. “In today’s world, if you have a good game you're the next Joe Montana, you have a bad game you're the next Heath Shuler. Troy Aikman tells people all the time the Cowboys were 0-11 his rookie year, and he wasn’t very good. Peyton Manning was 3-13, too.”
That said…
“I'm not saying that if they somehow landed the third or fourth pick and one of the really good quarterbacks was available to not take him,” Feinstein said, “but I'm saying that I think Sam Howell is the likely starter next year. I still believe he can be a good quarterback in the NFL. I like his attitude and his arm, and there’s no guarantee with college quarterbacks.”
Sam may be back next year, but “it’s obvious” Ron Rivera won’t be, so
“Underwhelming,” John said. “He hasn't been terrible, but the next time he says something about the football team that I think he 100 percent believes will be the first time, because he’s learned coach-speak through 13 years as a head coach – but I think what you do is just say, ‘Ron, it just hasn’t worked.’”
So where does Ron end up?
“I think you said Ron Rivera will be a defensive coordinator somewhere next year,” John said, to objections from EB and JP. “Jack Del Rio was a disaster, but when he fired Jack Del Rio, he didn't replace the players, so he wasn't gonna get that much better. I thought that was a hapless gesture, and for crying out loud, Nathaniel Hackett got a coordinator job. But, if this is the end of the run, so be it.”
Take a listen to Feinstein’s entire segment above, which also includes some more thoughts on the latest news about the Caps and Wiz moving to Virginia and more!
