After a pair of late turnovers in Sunday’s loss to the 49ers, Commanders head coach Ron Rivera benched quarterback Taylor Heinicke in favor of Carson Wentz.
The No. 2 overall pick of the 2016 draft had a solid showing in his limited work, completing 12-of-16 passes for 123 yards with a touchdown.
But as the Commanders go into their Week 17 matchup with Cleveland, head coach Ron Rivera told reporters on Tuesday that he’s not yet ready to publicly name a starter.
“Well I just want to make sure I have an opportunity to speak to everybody before I make a decision,” Rivera said in his video conference. “I want to make sure I’ve got all the thoughts and ideas and concepts. Again, at the end of the day, the decision’s going to be made based on what I believe is best for us going forward, gives us the best opportunity right now. That’s what this is really about.”
Rivera said it’s important to him that players have a voice and also understand what he’s thinking when it comes to the starting QB.
As for Sunday’s performance by both signal-callers, Rivera said he thought there were a lot of positives.
“I thought Taylor did some really good things. There were some opportunities, I think, that we could’ve taken advantage of as well,” Rivera said. “I thought Carson coming in and not having played in a while, he was a little rusty at first. And then he started to sharpen up. He showed he made quick decisions. So, that was good to see. It was. There are still some things he can continue to work on and improve as well.”
Heinicke was 13-of-18 for 166 yards with two touchdowns and an interception on Saturday. But he also lost a fumble. In the last three games, Heinicke has fumbled five times with four lost.
The Commanders will clinch a playoff berth if they beat Cleveland, Seattle and Detroit lose, and Green Bay loses or ties.
