Commanders QB Sam Howell's New Trademark? 'Resilience' Says Ron Rivera
The Washington Commanders came into their Week 1 clash against the Arizona Cardinals full of hope and optimism. After an offseason where things were clicking, against the Cardinals in Week 1, the offensive performance was rather clunky.
Howell was intercepted once and sacked six times in the 20-16 win in what was just his second regular-season start of his career, but head coach Ron Rivera praised his quarterback's resilience after what was a difficult day at the office.
“That's the resilience about him," Rivera said. "I think it is really a little bit of a trademark of his, how tough he is. He is a tough young man. He took a couple of big shots yesterday and one of the things he's going to learn is you can't leave yourself exposed like he did. He'll learn that and hopefully he'll learn that quickly.”
While it is only one game, Eric Bieniemy ideally won't want his offensive line to give up six sacks when he has a second-year player sitting like a duck behind them.
Howell still rallied to finish the game, going 19/31 for 202 yards, one touchdown, and one interception.
The former North Carolina star scored the go-ahead touchdown with 11:48 on the clock in the fourth quarter before leading another drive that finished with a Joey Slye field goal with 2:23 left in the game.
But for Rivera, with the offensive line giving up six sacks, he isn't sure how long it will take Howell to speed up his mental clock to avoid unnecessary hits.
“Well, I can't tell you typically, but I can say that some guys will probably pick it up quicker than others," Rivera said. "He is a guy that only played his second start in the NFL, and you'd like to see him continue to just keep getting better and better, which I believe he can.”
It wasn't the cleanest performance from the Washington offense, but it is Week 1, and Howell will look to produce a better effort when the Commanders travel to take on the Denver Broncos at Mile High on Sunday.