Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy met with the media Thursday, and, of course, quarterback Sam Howell’s benching was the primary topic.
Bieniemy revealed that head coach Ron Rivera decided to bench Howell midway through the fourth quarter with the young quarterback struggling, but he agreed with the move.
“Coach Ron, he basically said, ‘Hey, you know what, let’s rest him,” Bieniemy said about sitting Howell for Brissett in the fourth quarter of last week’s loss to the Rams.
“Let’s give him a break. Let’s let him sit back and let’s give him an opportunity to observe Jacoby. Let’s give Jacoby an opportunity to go play.’ And so I agree with him. At that particular time, there was no hesitation. And obviously Coach Rivera is the head man, and when he makes a comment, he has 51% of the vote. And I honestly agreed with him at that particular time because I felt he was pressing, and you never want to see someone pressing.”
Bieniemy’s point is clear here — unlike Rivera. Rivera’s messaging regarding Howell and other things hasn’t always lined up. Washington has let Howell play through far worse situations this season than what he faced against the Rams last week. While Howell was only sacked once, it was more about what he missing than the major mistakes he was making, which lines up with Bieniemy’s analysis.
On a fourth-down completion to Terry McLaurin, Howell had running back Jonathan Williams wide open on a wheel route for what would’ve been a touchdown. While Howell’s pass to McLaurin turned into a first down, the Commanders ended up not scoring.
Later, on Howell’s final pass attempt — an interception — he had McLaurin and another receiver open before he waited too long to force the ball into McLaurin, leading to an inaccurate throw.
Why couldn’t Rivera just say he felt Howell was pressing? From Bieniemy’s perspective, it made sense. Howell has had worse performances this season, but he was not good on Sunday. He was clearly not trusting his eyes, and a break didn’t hurt him.
What did Bieniemy think Howell learned from Brissett’s success?
“He didn’t think, and that was the big thing, probably more than anything, that Sam got out of that was Jacoby went out and played the game,” Bieniemy said of Brissett. “He didn’t go out and overthink the process.”
Howell has shown to be very resilient and possesses an ability to bounce back from bad plays or games. Sunday’s game against the New York Jets presents another growth opportunity for Howell.
Bieniey doesn’t believe Howell needs to sit for an entire game.
“He’s got to get back on that horse,” he said.