The Washington Football Team’s strange quarterback situation keeps getting stranger.
Coach Ron Rivera said Tuesday that it is possible Alex Smith and Taylor Heinicke will rotate during their playoff game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Washington is 5-1 when Smith starts – and 2-8 with other quarterbacks – but it was clear Sunday night in a win against the tanking Philadelphia Eagles that Smith’s mobility is limited by a calf injury in his surgically repaired leg.
“It’s something we have to seriously look at,” Rivera told reporters. “I didn’t say I was going to do it. I said it’s something we maybe need to think about.”
Washington started the season with 2019 first-round pick Dwayne Haskins under center. He was later benched, stripped of his captaincy and cut. Next up was Kyle Allen, who suffered a season-ending ankle injury. Then came Smith’s inspirational comeback from a 2018 injury that nearly required leg amputation.
Smith missed the Week 15 and Week 16 games, with Haskins starting and Heinicke taking over for a quarter at the end of a loss to the Carolina Panthers. Washington nearly became the first playoff team since the 2015 Houston Texans to start four different quarterbacks.
Heinicke and Rivera have a relationship dating to when they were backup quarterback and coach, respectively, of the Panthers in 2018.
“We have to play the guy that gives us the best chance to win,” Rivera said.
The last two playoff teams to make the playoffs with losing records – the 2010 Seattle Seahawks and Rivera’s 2014 Panthers – both won a game before elimination. Washington won the NFC East at 7-9.
“To have two separate game plans you’re asking for way too much from your team,” Rivera said.