LANDOVER, Md. – Washington football team quarterback Dwayne Haskins opened the day as a starter with a chance to redeem himself. He came out with many questions about his future, and defined last week as the hardest of his life.
Washington replaced Haskins in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 20-13 loss to the Carolina Panthers. He completed 14 of 28 passes for 154 yards and two interceptions.
“Definitely the hardest week of my life. I just want to recover and move forward, pray and get my life together,” Haskins said. “I really can’t express in words how I feel right now.”
Coach Ron Rivera is still unsure of who will start next Sunday’s season finale in Washington (6-9) in Philadelphia. If Alex Smith’s tense right calf is healthy, it will start. But if Smith can’t play, Rivera doesn’t commit to who he would start with.
“You sign up for this job, so that’s what it is,” said Haskins, who spoke to reporters at his home after Sunday’s loss. “Sometimes being human isn’t enough. You have to take charge of your responsibilities and mistakes and put your best foot forward and pray for a chance … You never know when you’ll have another one.”
Sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Haskins did not turn down requests to speak to the media and was told that security quarterback Taylor Heinicke would meet with reporters and that Haskins could return home.
Haskins was devastated during his video conference call, clearly understanding the opportunity he missed just a week after receiving it.
But after violating another COVID-19 protocol (he was not wearing a mask at his girlfriend’s birthday party, where more than ten people were present), he was fined $ 40,000 and retired from his captaincy. Then, on Sunday, he was left on the bench.
“We didn’t get anything, so I decided to make the change,” Rivera said.
Rivera had held out hope that Smith could return on Sunday. After missing last week’s game with a tense right calf, Smith practiced completely on Friday, but felt painful on Saturday.
“We had some hope [Smith would play], and it didn’t work, ”Rivera said.
All the while, Rivera was clear that Haskins would start if Smith couldn’t play. Other options were rookie free agent Steven Montez, who has never played in any game, and Heinicke, who hasn’t played in an NFL game since 2018 and spent last winter in the XFL.
But Heinicke knew Washington’s offense, as he had played coordinator Scott Turner with both Carolina and Minnesota. Rivera finally headed to Heinicke in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game, and responded by completing 12 of 19 passes for 137 yards and a touchdown.
Rivera said he didn’t make the move before because of how Haskins finished against Seattle last week, when he completed 23 of 31 passes for 197 yards in the second half of a 20-15 loss.
“I wanted to see him come out in the third quarter and see if he could take the energy he had last week,” Rivera said.
This did not happen.
“We just weren’t clicking,” Haskins said. “I wish I could go back and change a few things, but now it’s over.”
When asked what he wanted to see of Haskins, Rivera offered a word: “Improvement.”
Sunday was not the time to fully assess Haskins ’future. But his season has not gone as he or Rivera expected. Several sources have said that the draft pick of the first round of 2019 must prepare much better as an NFL quarterback and they want him to mature. Haskins has a two-year rookie contract and didn’t feel like looking beyond this season.
“This is not a question for me to answer,” he said. “I’m here. I’m looking forward to next week.”