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What the Redskins' Bill Callahan Said about Jeff Driskel
Jeff Driskel is likely to make his third start Sunday in the place of the injured Matthew Stafford.
Stafford has been on the mend since suffering a back injury in Week 9 against the Raiders.
He reportedly has fractured bones in his back, and it would be “unsafe” for him to play again this season, according to doctors.
He hasn't suited up for practice or played in a game since.
Meanwhile, in Driskel's first two starts for the Lions -- Week 10 against the Bears and Week 11 against the Cowboys -- he rushed for a combined 88 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries, including 51 yards and the aforementioned score a week ago.
Although he's not nearly the passer that Stafford is, he definitely adds a dimension on the ground that Stafford doesn't bring to the table.
It's something that has stood out to Redskins interim head man Bill Callahan about the former University of Florida and Louisiana Tech University passer.
"Driskel is a big, competitive, athletic guy that can make plays with his feet," Callahan said. "It was impressive watching him against the Cowboys and also the Bears, in terms of with what he did running the football. Not only from the read-zone game and the option game that they run, but also just his ability to move and escape the pocket. I mean, he had 51 (rushing) yards the other night, and I thought he put the team in position to win at the end. I thought he competed at a very high level."
Callahan has intel on both Stafford and Driskel from his son Brian, who served as the quarterbacks coach for Stafford and the Lions from 2016-17 and as Driskel's offensive coordinator in Cincinnati earlier this season.
Regarding Driskel, Callahan further commented, "I think (he) is different. He’s just a different type of player. He was in Cincinnati with my son earlier, so he (Brian) had both of them. It’s just interesting to see a young guy, who is a fourth-year player. He has good stature, and he can obviously sling it. But he made a lot of off-schedule plays in last week’s game against Dallas that were really impressive. Everybody’s different. Matt has a ton of experience in the system that he’s been in, and I think Jeff is coming into a system now that he is learning and trying to pick up and do well.”
Driskel signed with the Lions after Week 2 of the regular season -- a 13-10 victory for the Lions against the Chargers.
So, it is still a relatively new system for the former sixth-round draft pick of the San Francisco 49ers. He was drafted by the 49ers at No. 207 overall in the 2016 NFL Draft.
He's still learning new facets of the Darrell Bevell-run offense on a daily and weekly basis in practice and with each game he lines up for the Lions under center -- all of which are experiences that will hopefully shape Driskel into a more competent and well-rounded passer.
"I think every experience that you get -- good or bad -- you can use it down the line," Driskel said on Wednesday. "Each and every -- not even just game, but even drive -- you gain experience, and you can put things in the memory bank and build off of those for the future. So yeah, I think that it’s definitely helping me improve, and there have been some good situations that have come up within these games that are kind of hard to replicate in practice that I’ve been through now. So, some of those things won’t be my first time the next time they come up.”
Driskel will look to notch his second career win as a starting quarterback and his first with the Lions against Callahan & Co. on Sunday at 1 p.m. at FedExField.
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