After Sam Howell was benched in Sunday's defeat at the Los Angeles Rams, Washington head coach Ron Rivera said he sat the Commanders' second-year quarterback because he was "trying to take care of him a little bit."
"He got into a situation and then the ears pinned back like that. Didn't want to see anything crazy," Rivera said after the game, adding that he decided to make the change to veteran backup Jacoby Brissett.
“I think it’s more of just a game flow," he said about the decision to remove Howell with 9:05 to play in the fourth quarter and the Commanders down 28-7. "It is one of those things you get to this point and when teams are just putting their ears back…And we got a lot of faith that Jacoby is for us."
Rivera added: "I think there were a couple things and again as you look at it, we just got to make sure we are ready to protect him and then we'll go from there. Some of the decisions that we have to make in terms of... the quarterback.”
But the head coach began his postgame press conference with a declaration that Howell would remain the starter for the remainder of the season. He was asked on Monday if Washington had not already been eliminated from playoff contention at 4-10, would they still be sticking with Howell over Brissett?
"Well, if this was about playoffs and, we're right in the middle of it, and stuff like that then that's something we most certainly have to consider," Rivera said. "Do we still have that opportunity to continue to win? And that's one of those things that you always consider because, again, you always wanna make sure everyone's getting the opportunity to be successful."
Kevin Sheehan called that question the perfect question because it allowed Rivera to say too much and revealed who the Washington staff thinks gives them the best chance to win.
To Sheehan, Rivera just told everyone: If the Commanders were still mathematically alive, "I think he just told you Jacoby Brissett would be the starting quarterback Sunday against the Jets."
This was an honest answer from Rivera in Sheehan's mind and another example of the head coach creating another mini-controversy.
"They boxed themselves in when they said we got our guy, he's QB1, did you see him against the Cowboys [in Week 18 last year]," Sheehan continued. "They knew they weren't gonna make any big-time moves for a quarterback... becuase of the ownership situation. And they slapped the QB1 label on Sam Howell and said we got our guy and it was really hard from that moment on to kinda go back.
"They signed Jacoby Brissett because on one hand, it was klike we can win if we can develop the quarterback and prove we got this guy right in the minds of perhaps ownership and fans and media members.
"But we could also win to a certain degree if we win some games and we're in contention and that's why we need Jacoby Brissett just in case that we're wrong about Sam because you know what? They didn't know either. They didn't know. It was a wish cast from the beginning."
Listen to Sheehan's full take on the situation – and if there is some 'shoulda, coulda, woulda' on starting Jacoby Brissett this season – on the audio player above!
