Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell has impressed coaches and teammates through two weeks of OTAs. Howell hasn’t been perfect by any stretch, but his ability to bounce back from a negative play and his control of the offense is encouraging.
Howell has earned praise from head coach Ron Rivera, offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, and teammates such as wide receiver Terry McLaurin.
Howell met with the media this week and discussed his impressions of the offense and what he worked on throughout the offseason. One of the knocks on Howell coming out of North Carolina was his footwork, something he worked hard on this offseason with his personal quarterback coach in North Carolina.
“Yeah, I mean, I feel like I’m a lot better,” Howell said of his footwork.
Howell’s coachability isn’t a concern for Bieniemy or quarterbacks coach Tavita Pritchard. Howell, like McLaurin and others, welcomes Bieniemy’s tough style.
“I want to be coached hard,” Howell said Wednesday.
“He’s [Bieniemy] just coaching. I go back there almost always after we finish like a run of plays, and we kind of just talk through the plays. He asked me what I saw, and if there’s one play he didn’t agree with my decision, he tells me. So we kind of go from there. But I just love being coached, and I love that he does that type of stuff because I always want feedback.”
That’s precisely what Washington wants to hear from Howell. The early impressions from Howell are positive, but we’ll know much more when training camp opens next month. He’ll need to outright win the starting job, but if things are progressing as they have early in the offseason, that shouldn’t be a problem.
