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.

“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.”

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.