Washington at Eagles: Coach Ron Rivera Reveals 4 Thoughts on COVID QB 'Musical Chairs'
The Washington Football Team is trying to stay upright in the NFC Playoffs chase ... a difficult task to accomplish when, due to injuries at COVID, it cannot keep a QB upright.
Due to the recent COVID outbreak, both of Washington’s quarterbacks, Taylor Heinicke and Kyle Allen, currently sit on the team's NFL reserve/COVID-19 list. And of course original starter Ryan Fitzpatrick injured his hip in Week 1 and he's not in play.
That means Kyle Shurmur could start for Washington on Tuesday night against the Eagles.
Or it means Garrett Gilbert, who has been with the WFT for just a minute, could start this week.
Or maybe ...
Coach Ron Rivera seems to have a three- or four-pronged plan here.
How about Gilbert, who has worked for Rivera before?
"Coming along,'' the coach said. "It’s going well. ... I thought Garrett did a nice job.''
How about Shurmur?
“I think he’s doing a nice job in terms of preparation and getting himself ready just in case,'' Rivera said, and maybe the "just in case'' part of the quote is pivotal, because ...
How about clarity and clearance for Heinicke and/or Allen for Tuesday?
“I do know, having seen the numbers that they’re all trending up, so that’s a good thing,” Rivera said. This is a tricky thing. It’s a health matter.''
Indeed, over the weekend, the WFT got good news on defensive linemen Jon Allen and Montez Sweat, as they came off the list almost as quickly as they went on; they'll be available in Philly.
So maybe on Monday, there is positive news about availability of QBs who have actually been around the program and been on the field.
Shurmur signed with the Washington practice squad in September but has never taken a regular-season NFL snap. Gilbert is a much-traveled journeyman with recent stops with the Dallas Cowboys and most recently with Patriots the practice squad, from which the WFT plucked him on Friday.
Heinicke was already dealing with some injury issues, but he's made it clear those wouldn't be problems for playing against a fairly healthy Philadelphia team, which like the WFT is 6-7 as they close out NFL Week 15.
"Depending on how things go in the next 24 to 36 hours,'' Rivera said, "we’ll know even more.”
