Washington Commanders quarterback Carson Wentz is fast approaching being eligible to return from injured reserve, but Taylor Heinicke is unfazed. The backup, who has started the past three games in place of Wentz, said this week that the looming possibility of being replaced as the starter doesn’t affect him.
Carson Wentz could be back soon but that doesn’t bother Taylor Heinicke
Wentz, who fractured the ring finger on his right hand in a Week 6 win at the Chicago Bears, will be eligible to return from the injured list Tuesday. Heinicke has faced questions about his standing since the spring, when the team traded for Wentz and drafted Sam Howell, but throughout, he has maintained he’ll do whatever it takes to help the Commanders succeed.
“My role this year was to be backup to Carson, and if he went down, be ready to play, and I feel like I’ve done that,” Heinicke said Thursday, adding, “I’m just going out there and trying to win games for this team. And if they want to put Carson back in, great. I’ll be the best backup I can be to him and help him in any way I can. But for me right now, I just go in there and try to do the best I can.”
Commanders Coach Ron Rivera may have to decide on a quarterback as soon as the day after his team’s trip to Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field. This week at practice, Wentz did not wear a brace or splint on his right hand, and Saturday, Rivera said, he threw passes for the first time. But when a reporter asked Rivera what he’d do when Wentz returns, the coach responded: “You’re most certainly ahead of yourself. I told you guys, we’ll play the game and then I’ll decide when it’s time to.”
On Monday, Heinicke will look to bounce back from a poor performance in last week’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings. He completed 15 of 28 passes for 149 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in the 20-17 defeat, though it could have been worse had a field official not knocked down a Vikings defender to aid a 49-yard touchdown pass to Curtis Samuel.
While the Commanders’ offense has struggled with both quarterbacks under center — scoring 1.4 points per drive with Wentz and 1.7 with Heinicke per TruMedia, both rates in the bottom quarter of the NFL — Heinicke has given the team a spark with his fiery, mobile play. It’s been apparent to fans in the stands and Eagles players on tape as they’ve studied the Commanders this week.
“The biggest thing is that they are playing with a little more juice,” Eagles linebacker Haason Reddick told NJ.com. “Since Heinicke has been back there, they’ve just been a little bit more energetic.”
The offense can translate energy to production if it stops absorbing negative plays. Heinicke said those setbacks, such as batted passes or sacks, killed good drives last week, and he seemed a little frustrated because “this is kind of a weekly deal.” Since Heinicke took over, Washington has had the second-best average distance to convert third downs in the NFL (5.6 yards), but it has converted them at the fifth-worst rate (31.6 percent).
“We’ve just got to either convert third downs or stop hurting ourselves,” Heinicke said. “It’s one of those two things. So I think if we just keep working on that, really honing on that and practice and get better at those things, we can put up some more points.”
Offensive coordinator Scott Turner said he didn’t expect Heinicke to be fazed by a potential quarterback switch. He likened Heinicke’s mental toughness to move on after negative plays — as he did by following an interception with a game-winning drive in Week 8 at the Indianapolis Colts — to his ability to rebound from his worse games.
“He’ll go give everything he’s got on Monday, and he won’t let the other stuff affect him,” Turner said. “We always have those conversations, ‘Hey man, just go play and be you. You’re not gonna always make the right decision. You’re always not gonna make the right throws, but if you try to overthink it, you’re not gonna make any plays either.’ So, he’ll bounce back.”
When asked if he viewed Monday night as a deciding factor in the quarterback battle, Turner said, “you always look at everything.”
“Ultimately, that’ll be Coach [Rivera]’s decision,” Turner added. “We’ll have conversations about it. We’ve got to wait and see when Carson is healthy, so a lot of that’s going to be up to the trainers before we even put in that situation. Right now, we’re really just focused on getting Taylor ready.”
Source: WP
