For the second straight game, Washington Commanders quarterback Jacoby Brissett replaced Sam Howell in the second half of a loss. On Sunday, Brissett relieved Howell with the Commanders down 27-7 midway through the third quarter, leading three consecutive touchdown drives to give Washington a late lead.
Unfortunately, the Commanders came up short when Jets kicker Greg Zuerlein hit a 54-yard field with five seconds remaining to give New York a 30-28 win.
Brissett entered Washington’s game against the Rams last week midway through the fourth quarter with the Commanders trailing 28-7. He engineered two scoring drives, making it a 28-20 game before Washington ran out of time.
However, after the game, head coach Ron Rivera reiterated Howell would remain as starting quarterback.
Brissett has been spectacular in relief over the last two weeks. After Howell played well through Week 10, the past six weeks have been a major struggle for him. While some of that is due in part to a young quarterback’s growth, it’s also led to questions about Howell’s upside.
After the loss to the Jets, Brissett offered a deep and thoughtful response when asked about Howell.
“I told him, this is going to be the hardest part of your career right now. It’s going to feel like you’re in this by yourself. It’s snowballing. It’s one thing after another, it’s one thing after another. But I know from being in this league, man, the good ones find a way to get to the other side. No matter how long it takes, how hard it is. You surround yourself with good people. I hope he leans on me as one of those good people that will help him get through this because I know I will. And you just go through it like that. What all of the coaches say there’s no magic pill; there’s no magic for some people to go over to say, “Sam, do this,” and everything works. It’s, man, you’ve got to go through it. You’ve just got to make sure you’ve got the right people in your ear, you keep your confidence, you stay true to who you are because that’s what’s gotten you this far. I’m excited for him. I told him that literally when we were running off the field. I was like, ‘I’m excited for this part of your career, because not a lot of people get this experience, man. The ones that come on the other side, they have a better story than a lot of people.’ I’m sure he’ll appreciate this part of his journey at the end of his career.”
We’ve heard for a while how loved and respected Brissett was from his time with other teams. This response, and you see it when he is communicating with Howell on the sideline, proves what a great mentor and teammate he is to Howell and others.
When Brissett signed in March, he thought he’d have a legitimate chance to start. He didn’t. Rivera’s goal since January was to do everything to help Howell succeed.
Howell was terrific at times this season. And when he did struggle, he’d bounce back in a big way. Unfortunately, he hasn’t bounced back in weeks. He’s also made the decision easier for Washington’s next GM on whether or not to target a quarterback high in the 2024 NFL draft.
How did Howell respond to Brissett’s advice?
“He understood it,” Brissett said. “Like I told somebody, that’s like my little brother, man. Before I started, I said, ‘I’m probably the last person you want to hear from right now.’ But he’s obviously processing a lot of stuff right now, as he should be. That’s part of the journey, is processing and questioning, and looking inside to find answers, and looking in other places to find answers. He understood it, and he was receptive of it. I’m probably one of his biggest fans on this team, and what right now might seem like biggest fans in this world.”
Brissett had one final thought on Howell:
“Every time I see him play, I’m seeing a kid fighting for everything,” Brissett said. “Like I said, it’s easy for someone to come up here and say, “Oh, he could’ve did this,” or “He could’ve did that,” or “Jacoby went into the game and did this and did that,” but what he’s had to endure this year and what he’s going through and these moments right now, and he’s still standing tall, you know what I mean? Man, I’m just excited for this part of his career.”
It would be easy for Brissett to offer a simple yes or no, or one-sentence answers on Howell. Why would he care about Howell’s progress? After all, Brissett could approach it from the mindset of “he should’ve never been ahead of me in the first place.”
That’s not Brissett. The book on Sam Howell has yet to be written. But years from now, when Howell looks back at his career, he’ll have nothing but praise for how gracious Brissett was to him early in his career.
