When Washington quarterback Carson Wentz fractured a finger on his throwing hand in a Week 6 win over the Chicago Bears, the Commanders were 2-4 and looked like an afterthought for a possible playoff berth.
Buy Commanders TicketsHowever, backup quarterback — and former starter — Taylor Heinicke took over and led the Commanders to five wins in their next seven games and firmly positioned Washington into one of the NFC’s two final wild-card berths.
Wentz is healthy now, and Heinicke has had his share of struggles recently. While head coach Ron Rivera told Heinicke weeks back that he was the starter moving forward, that was when the Commanders were in the middle of a winning streak. Washington tied and lost to the New York Giants in back-to-back games in its last two outings.
Finishing drives was a problem for Washington’s offense. Some of that was on Heinicke, while some could be blamed on playcalling or pass protection.
Earlier in the week, Rivera left open the door for a possible quarterback change.
“No, no. I think that the biggest thing, more anything else, is sticking with Taylor and what we’re trying to establish,” Rivera said. “It is something though that obviously is talked about, obviously out there, and it is something that, to be quite frank, I do have to think about at some point. But if we can continue to get back on track and play the way we’ve played and do the things that we’ve done, then we’ll stick with where we are. Until then, I will do that.”
Rivera gave a good, honest answer on how he viewed the position for the remainder of the season. It was all about who would help the Commanders win, nothing more, nothing less.
Before Saturday’s slate of Christmas Eve games, Tom Pelissero and Mike Garofolo of the NFL Network spoke on the 49ers and Commanders’ matchup.
Pelissero had the following to say about a possible quarterback change for Washington:
The leash is not as long as it once was on Heinicke,” Pelissero said noting that Wentz did get some first-team reps at practice this week, which is typical for Washington’s backup quarterback. “The big emphasis this week is going to be on finishing drives. If he does that, Heinicke should stay in the lineup.”
Pelissero noted that Heinicke is “beat up” and battling some injuries, but if he struggles early, the Commanders will turn to Wentz.
