Jets’ Jordan Whitehead smacks ref in face celebrating sack on Commanders’ Sam Howell

An NFL referee took some incidental contact on Sunday during a game between the New York Jets and Washington Commanders at MetLife Stadium.

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Jets safety Jordan Whitehead picked up a half-sack on Commanders quarterback Sam Howell early in the first quarter with the team already up 3-0. As Whitehead went to celebrate with Jermaine Johnson, his flailing hand caught Clay Martin in the face.

No penalty was called on Whitehead. Instead, the Commanders were penalized for illegal formation. Two plays later, Johnson got to Commanders punter Tress Way and blocked his kick. The play set up a Jets touchdown on New York’s next drive.

Whitehead has put together a solid season in his second straight year with New York. He was credited with a half-sack as John Franklin-Myers was also in on the tackle.

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Whitehead didn’t have any sacks coming into the game and hadn’t recorded one since the 2020 season when he was in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ secondary. This season, he has 84 total tackles and is nearing a career-high in solo tackles with 57. He had 58 solo tackles in 2021 and 2022.

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The Jets were controlling the game from the start.

New York was up 20-7 over Washington with 6:38 remaining in the first half.

Ron Rivera still believes Sam Howell can be a ‘really good quarterback’

Jacoby Brissett is Washington’s new starting quarterback — for Week 17, at least. Head coach Ron Rivera met with the media before Wednesday’s practice and confirmed the Commanders were turning to Brissett in place of Sam Howell but was not ready to talk about Week 18.

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“We’ll see how everything goes, but I think Jacoby’s proven that he’s a very, very viable player in this league,” Rivera said. “And having him around has been, I think, excellent for Sam,”

Howell started the first 15 games of the season but has struggled over the last several games. Howell’s play really bottomed out over the last two weeks against the Rams and Jets, and he was benched in the second half of both games. Making matters worse for Howell was Brissett coming in and leading Washington on multiple touchdown drives in each game.

Rivera believes sitting Howell allows him to take a breath.

“I just think right now things just hadn’t gone the way we’d liked them to,” Rivera said of Howell. “I think part of it, too, may be the fact that he’s played a lot of football this year, going from one situation to the other, and it’s been hard, tough football, and I think this is an opportunity for him to take a breath.”

Whether that’s true or not, Rivera mentioned it more than once. Remember, Rivera placed a lot on Howell’s shoulders beginning early last offseason. And he maintained throughout this season that this was all about Howell’s development.

He mentioned the development word again on Wednesday.

“I think this is probably a good opportunity for Sam to take a break,” Rivera said. “This is about Sam’s continued development, and things hadn’t gone as well as we’d like for him the last few weeks.”

Rivera still believes Howell has a bright future in the NFL.

“I think there’s been some good moments where he’s learned a lot,” he said. “I think there’s some moments where he’s had to take a couple lumps, but he’s a resilient player, a solid young man who I think has a bright future in this league. I really do. I think he’s a guy who can play quarterback in the NFL and do it well and do it at a high level. He’s shown us some really good things.”

Commanders fans are still supporting Sam Howell as the quarterback of the present and future - Hogs Haven

Then, there was this statement from Rivera.

“This is not an indictment on Sam or how my feelings towards Sam have changed in terms of, I really do think this guy can be a really good quarterback in this league,” Rivera said.

Isn’t benching someone an indictment of your feelings on the player?

Rivera has mismanaged the quarterback situation throughout his time in Washington, but never more than this season.

Brissett becomes the ninth different starting quarterback since Rivera took over in 2020.