Ron Rivera is not leaving Sam Howell to blame for what occurred Sunday in the Washington Commanders’ 37-3 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
Rivera met with WUSA 9’s Chick Hernandez to discuss the game, which dropped Washington to 2-1 on the season.
Buy Commanders TicketsThe main takeaway was that Rivera said of Howell, “We’ve got to help him.”
Hernandez began noting that with the nine sacks that Buffalo had of Howell, the Commanders lead the league in sacks allowed. Rivera admitted he sometimes worries about the psyche of the young quarterback in taking all of these hits.
But Rivera, thinking proactively, also said: “We can control a little bit more of it, and we need to. We need to be better at certain aspects of protection.”
In this respect, Rivera was talking about coaching adjustments.
He then turned his attention apparently to Howell, saying, “We need to be better at getting rid of the ball.”
Rivera is experienced, having been in the NFL for 36 years. He is keeping this in perspective. Howell played his fourth NFL game, and the Bills are perhaps one of the top five teams in the NFL.
Rivera also pointed out to Hernandez that Howell was getting hit. He wanted to go deep down the field and missed some underneath routes that were available to him.
Rivera pointed out he has had a worse day in the NFL than he did Sunday against the Bills.
“If you are in it long enough, you are going to go through these things,” he said. “But there is a certain point where you know you are going to come out on the other end. We have a young football team with guys that are learning and growing. They are learning on the job. This young quarterback is learning on the job.”
“We’ve got to give him the opportunity to grow. Keeping him on the field and having him play is probably the best opportunity for him to grow.”
Rivera made it clear the coaches sincerely believe Howell is going to be better in the end through playing.
Rivera then, without naming names, alluded to two NFL greats who began their careers going 1-15 (Troy Aikman) and 3-13 (Peyton Manning). Rivera was not claiming Howell would become an Aikman or Manning. However, he was making his point that he genuinely believes Howell “is going to learn and grow.”
