ASHBURN — After the Commanders signed Jacoby Brissett in March, coach Ron Rivera said the veteran would have an opportunity to come in and compete with Sam Howell for the starting job. But this summer, that “competition” turned out to be less about Howell versus Brissett — and more about Howell versus Howell.
In reality, a true competition between Howell and Brissett never materialized before Rivera officially named Howell the starter on Friday.
That was by design.
The Commanders gave Howell every opportunity to earn the job by handing him almost all the first-team reps throughout spring practices and training camp. Despite Rivera’s comments that Brissett would compete, Howell was always set up to be “The Guy” this offseason. The only way that would have changed is if the second-year signal caller had gotten hurt or had underwhelmed in practice.
“It was Sam’s to lose and he did nothing to lose it,” Rivera said.
So why did Rivera tease a competition between the two if the Commanders had no plans of following through with it? Perhaps part of that rhetoric was to keep Howell on alert, to make sure the 22-year-old took nothing for granted. This wouldn’t be the first time that Rivera had gone that route. Both in the 2020 and 2021 offseasons, the coach said Washington’s starters — Dwayne Haskins and then Ryan Fitzpatrick — would have to earn the job. But once camp started, Haskins and Fitzpatrick received the lion’s share of work with neither in danger of losing the role.
Interestingly enough, Rivera admitted it was a mistake after the 2020 season to not rotate the quarterbacks in camp with the starters. That year, Washington benched Haskins after four games and cycled through four different passers. Howell has even less experience than Haskins did that summer — with only one career start to Haskins’ seven.
Rivera said he chose to give Howell practically all the reps because of how Howell and Brissett are at “different points” of their careers.
“To me, a guy that’s ascending (in Howell), that’s growing into it, you’ve gotta look at it that way as much as a guy that’s (been) there,” Rivera said. “And so, because going forward, if this is the guy, there’s a lot of good things you can do. And I look at some of the models and some of the other teams in the league that have done this with young quarterbacks and look at where they are today.
“It’s pretty indicative if you get your guy and he’s a young guy, you can do some really good things in terms of roster building.”
In other words, Rivera decided it was worth the Commanders trying to tap into Howell’s potential rather than to give Brissett — a guy that’s been there — an extended look. And because Howell is still on a cheap rookie contract, Washington can take advantage of the financial flexibility that provides if Howell proves to be the long-term answer.
Howell didn’t disappoint in camp. Though the 2022 fifth-rounder had some growing pains early in practices, which was to be expected of a young quarterback, Howell turned a corner as the sessions went on. He impressed in joint practices last week against the Baltimore Ravens, leading Rivera to officially name him the starter two days after they concluded.
In addition to his strides on the field in terms of accuracy and timing, the aspect of Howell’s game that seemed to impress coaches and teammates the most was the way he kept an even keel throughout camp. That also applied to how Howell approached the job: He said he understood it was his job to lose, but didn’t try to think about it.
“I wasn’t really worried about anyone else’s expectations except for my own,” Howell said. “I have very high standards for myself.”
As for Brissett, the 30-year-old remains a viable backup option. The Commanders haven’t played just one quarterback in a season since Kirk Cousins in 2017, and Brissett is coming off a career year with the Cleveland Browns.
Asked if he felt like he got a fair shot at Washington’s starting job or that it was predetermined, Brissett said he couldn’t “judge that.” He told reporters that he had no say over his playing time, adding “that’s just how things go sometimes.”
“Obviously, I want to start, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t,” said Brissett, who signed a one-year, $8 million contract. “But it’s not my decision. I’ve just got to go out there and keep putting my best foot forward.”
Rivera said if he doubted Howell at any point, he would have had no hesitation to name Brissett the starter. But “I didn’t have any doubt,” Rivera said.
“For the long haul, for the future of us going forward,” Rivera said, “I really do believe Sam’s the guy we’re gonna go with.”
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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