Commanders benching Sam Howell in Ron Rivera’s last stand

NFL

By Andrew Crane

This could be Ron Rivera’s last quarterback change as Commanders coach.

Washington plans to start Jacoby Brissett over Sam Howell in Week 17 against the 49ers, Rivera — who is expected to get fired after the season — told reporters Wednesday.

Brissett, 31, has replaced Howell the past two weeks and has thrown three touchdowns in near comebacks against the Jets and Rams.

“We’ll see how everything goes, but I think Jacoby has proven that he’s a very, very viable player in this league,” Rivera told reporters Wednesday. “And having him around has been, I think, excellent for Sam. He’s really stood by Sam and helped Sam out a lot, and I think this is another way for him to help Sam continue his growth.”

When asked if Brissett would also start Washington’s Week 18 game against the Cowboys, Rivera said, “We’ll see how everything goes.”

Brissett will become the ninth different quarterback — joining Howell, Taylor Heinicke, Carson Wentz, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Alex Smith, Dwayne Haskins, Garrett Gilbert and Kyle Allen — to start at quarterback for the Commanders since Rivera’s first season in 2020, according to The Washington Post.

It has been a puzzling downfall for Howell across the last month. The fifth-round pick in 2022 led the NFL in passing yards (2,783) entering Week 11, but in his five games since, Howell has averaged just 168.2 passing yards per game.

Howell was benched in the Commanders’ loss to the Rams in Week 15, and when Brissett entered, he threw two touchdown passes and nearly sparked a comeback.

Then, the same sequence of events nearly unfolded again Sunday at MetLife Stadium, as the Commanders erased a 20-point halftime deficit before taking a lead in the final five minutes.

Quarterback Trevor Siemian orchestrated a drive that ended with a game-winning field goal from Greg Zuerlein, though, and the Jets escaped while handing the Commanders their sixth consecutive loss.

That game might mark the end of Howell’s second season.

He threw 19 touchdowns and 17 interceptions, but he also took a league-worst 60 sacks and, ultimately, couldn’t guide the Commanders to just their second postseason appearance since 2016. 

Brissett, who has started games for four different teams across his career, told reporters Sunday that he wanted Howell to rely on him for help navigating this “snowballing” stretch in the early stages of his career, adding that it’ll make the former North Carolina prospect have a “better story than a lot of people.”

“I think the hardest thing more than anything else is that, again, things didn’t go the way that we had wanted them to,” Rivera said, “and certain situations come up and I think this is a good chance for him to take a breath.”