Carson Wentz Relegated To Backup QB After Heinicke’s Performances
Things have gone from bad to worse for Carson Wentz after his public demotion by Ron Rivera on Monday.
The Washington Commanders quarterback has been injured with a finger issue since Week 6. Taylor Heinicke took over in his stead and has done enough to retain the starting role in the eyes of his head coach.
The Commanders were 2-4 with Carson Wentz as the starting quarterback. Despite Heinicke not being a drastic improvement, the team is 5-1-1 since he’s been starting.
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Washington is still quite stodgy in the offense, with 20 or less points in each of the last three weeks. However, Heinicke has one concrete advantage over Carson Wentz – his ability to bring WR Terry McLaurin into play.
McLaurin caught 22 passes for 367 yards and a touchdown in 6 weeks playing with Wentz. Since Heinicke took over, he’s caught 50 passes for 578 yards and two touchdowns in seven games.
“I feel comfortable with Taylor,” Ron Rivera said. “When Carson’s activated, he’ll be the primary backup and we’ll go from there.
“I think this is who we are,” Rivera added. “This is how we play. We’re running the ball right now well, we’re controlling the time of possession, we’re keeping our defense fresh. There’s some things, obviously, that could help but, I think right now, for where we are and who we are, I think we’re in a good spot. I really do.”
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“You take the good with the bad, but I think that’s true with a lot of quarterbacks,” Rivera said. “I don’t think there’s a whole bunch of guys that are out there that aren’t making a mistake every now and then.”
