Sam Howell opens up about fighting for his job with the Washington Commanders
Ron Rivera is not the only one on the hot seat with the Washington Commanders. Second-year quarterback Sam Howell is certainly feeling the pressure.
Anointed the starter heading into his sophomore season, Howell was replaced under center by veteran Jacoby Brissett last week in a 28-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. It came after the former fifth-round pick from North Carolina completed 11-of-26 passes for just 102 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
With everything up in the air relating to Washington’s future under new owner Josh Harris, Howell opened up about whether he believes he’s playing for his job.
“Obviously, you can worry all year long about what’s going to happen next year, but for me, I just kind of take the approach of taking it one week at a time and really try to focus in and do everything I can on a week-to-week basis to play my best football,” Howell told reporters, via Pro Football Talk.
“Just because obviously there’s a lot of questions about what’s going to happen after this year, but I feel like if I’m playing my best football at a consistent rate, then those questions won’t be there.”
More than anything, Howell has been impacted by an offensive line that’s acted the part of a turnstile this season. The second-year quarterback has been sacked a league-high 59 times. He’s also leading NFL quarterbacks with 535 pass attempts in 14 games while being interceptionso a league-high 15 times.
An argument can be raised that the aforementioned Rivera has not put his young quarterback in a position to succeed. It’s one of the reasons why the head coach will likely be fired following this season.
With that said, Howell really does have a chance to prove himself over the final three games of the season. That isn’t solely about showing the Commanders’ brass he can be a long-term starter. Rather, it’s all about displaying his talents to other teams.
Washington’s situation is firmly up in the air. Harris is going to make changes after buying the team from disgraced former owner Daniel Snyder. In addition to Rivera, that could include firing general manager Martin Mayhew.
Whoever comes in as the Commanders’ new power duo will certainly review Howell’s tape and go from there. Other teams will, too.
Related: Ranking Sam Howell among the NFL’s 32 starting QBs
“I’m just going to try to keep doing what I can to play good football and put good film on tape these last three games,” Howell said.
The youngster has already been named Washington’s starter for Week 16 against the New York Jets. The Commanders then finish up shop on another lost season against the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys. Putting good tape out there for the masses against these three top-end defenses would bode well for Howell moving forward.
