During the fourth quarter of the Washington Commanders’ loss to the Los Angeles Commanders, the team decided to bench quarterback Sam Howell in favor of veteran backup Jacoby Brissett. It was a pretty surprising move considering how much confidence the team has shown in Howell this season, and head coach Ron Rivera explained the decision after the game.
During his postgame press conference, Ron Rivera made it clear that Sam Howell would remain the team’s starting quarterback, but he made the decision to protect Howell a bit as he was in the middle of a bad game.
“Well, [we were] just really trying to take care of him a little bit,” Rivera said in his postgame press conference according to Pro Football Talk. “He got into a situation and then the ears pinned back like that. Didn’t want to see anything crazy.”
Howell was 11-of-26 for 102 yards with a touchdown and an interception when he was replaced with the Commanders trailing 28-7. Rivera seemed to think that things were just spiraling and that the switch to a veteran player like Brissett could settle the team down.
“I think it’s more of just a game flow. It is one of those things you get to this point and when teams are just putting their ears back,” Rivera said. “And we got a lot of faith that Jacoby is for us.”
Ultimately it worked as Brissett brought the team back and gave them a chance to win, with the Commanders only falling 28-20. But when the team takes on the Jets next week, Howell will be the starter once again.
