Rivera noted Howell’s accuracy, decision-making and command in the huddle have been attributes the young signal-caller has improved upon this offseason. The Commanders could make the QB1 gig official after a couple of positive joint practices this week with the Baltimore Ravens.
“Very pleased with the play of the quarterbacks,” Rivera said. “I thought Sam did a great job. You know, this is one of the things that we talked about, how important that these two days would be in our evaluation process, and there’s a lot of questions we wanted answered and yesterday’s tape I was really pleased with for not just the quarterbacks, but for him specifically as well. He did some really good things. Threw some real good balls. His ball placement, his accuracy was what we needed. Decision making was very plus.”
The Commanders play their second preseason game Monday against the Ravens and finish up the 2023 slate next Saturday against the Bengals. With a good week, Howell could have the starting gig officially wrapped up sooner rather than later.