Category: 2021 Preseason

Ian Rapoport says Ryan Fitzpatrick is Washington’s starting quarterback for 2021

Ian Rapoport confirmed the obvious on Sunday. Don’t expect an official announcement from Ron Rivera.

Well, it’s finally official—sort of. On Sunday, Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported that Ryan Fitzpatrick would be the starting quarterback for the Washington Football Team in 2021.

This is obviously no surprise. But don’t expect head coach Ron Rivera to make an official announcement anytime soon.

Fitzpatrick signed a one-year contract in March to compete for the starting job with Taylor Heinicke. While Heinicke received plenty of reps throughout training camp, it was always clear this was Fitzpatrick’s team in 2021.

Washington just completed its preseason with a 37-3 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday. Rivera chose to sit all of his starters in the game to avoid injuries.

Fitzpatrick played in two preseason games, playing around two full quarters of play.  He completed 12 of 21 passes for 151 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.

Washington’s first-team offense did not score a touchdown in its brief time on the field together in the preseason. However, in both of his starts, Fitzpatrick appeared to already have a solid rapport with tight end Logan Thomas and wide receivers Terry McLaurin and Adam Humphries.

Washington is set to open the regular season on Sept. 12 against the Los Angeles Chargers at FedEx Field.

 

Twitter reacts to the Washington’s preseason Week 3 loss to Ravens

Twitter reacts to Washington’s 37-3 preseason loss to the Ravens on Saturday.

The Baltimore Ravens defeated the Washington Football Team, 37-3, in the final preseason game for both teams at FedEx Field on Saturday evening.

The game meant very little for Washington in regards to the standings. After all, head coach Ron Rivera sat all of his starters for the preseason finale. For Washington, this was all about evaluation. Rivera and his staff wanted to get an extended look at several young players as the team spends the next couple of days getting its roster down to 53 players.

Some of Washington’s young players had good moments, despite the score. Others struggled.

Meanwhile, the game had a different meaning for the Ravens, who won their 20th consecutive preseason game.

As you might expect, Twitter had plenty of reactions regarding Washington’s putrid performance — and Baltimore’s meaningless winning streak.

 

Washington’s injury updates following preseason Week 3 vs. Ravens

A look at the injuries facing Washington after its third and final preseason game. Things look good.

The Washington Football Team completed the preseason with a 1-2 record after Saturday’s 37-3 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

No one cares about the loss to the Ravens — except John Harbaugh.

The good news for Washington, and its head coach, Ron Rivera, is the lack of injuries heading into the regular season.

After the loss to Baltimore, Rivera gave an update on a pair of players who missed the game.

Rookie safety Darrick Forrest has been nursing a hamstring injury over the past week. The timing is unfortunate for the fifth-round pick, and he could be ticketed for the practice squad.

Rivera said the team would likely know more about Forrest’s injury on Sunday.

Second-year defensive end James Smith-Williams, the top backup to Chase Young and Montez Sweat, missed the game with a leg injury. It doesn’t appear to be a long-term issue.

Finally, there is cornerback Torry McTyer, who made his second consecutive start. McTyer left the game early with a concussion. He is now entered into the NFL’s concussion protocol program.

Washington came out of the preseason with no major injuries. Now, the team gets two weeks to prepare for the Los Angeles Chargers.

5 takeaways from Washington’s preseason loss to the Ravens

Here are five takeaways from Baltimore’s preseason win over Washington.

The Washington Football Team ended their 2021 preseason with a record of 1-2 after Saturday’s 37-3 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

It was an ugly outcome in a meaningless game for the Football Team. Washington announced before the game its starters would not play, as third-string quarterback Kyle Allen got the start under center.

Steven Montez played the second half at quarterback for Washington.

This game had a totally different feel from the Baltimore side as the Ravens won their 20th consecutive preseason game, a streak that dates back to 2016.

Here are five takeaways from Baltimore’s preseason win over Washington.

Baltimore defeats Washington 37-3 in preseason finale

The Baltimore Ravens have now won 20 preseason games in a row after defeating Washington, 37-3.

The Baltimore Ravens defeated the Washington Football Team, 37-3, in the preseason finale on Saturday at FedEx Field.

Washington chose to sit all of its starters and went with Kyle Allen as the starting quarterback. Baltimore started Lamar Jackson, who played in one possession for the Ravens.

In Jackson’s lone possession, he drove Baltimore deep into Washington territory, but the defense sacked him twice to force a field-goal attempt, which it missed.

That was the highlight of the night for Washington’s backup defense.

Baltimore’s backup quarterback Tyler Huntley became the MVP of the preseason by completing 24 of 33 passes for 285 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed for a touchdown.

Allen completed 10 of 22 passes for 100 yards in one half of action. Steven Montez played the second half for Washington, completing five of 10 passes for 28 yards.

Washington rushed for 45 yards on 14 attempts, as the Ravens dominated time of possession, holding the ball for almost 42 minutes.

Washington will open the regular season on Sept. 12 when it hosts the Los Angeles Chargers at FedEx Field.

 

 

Baltimore leads Washington 23-3 at halftime of preseason finale

Baltimore leads Washington, 23-3, at halftime in the preseason finale for both teams.

The Baltimore Ravens lead the Washington Football Team, 23-3, at halftime in the preseason finale for both teams.

Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson started the game for Baltimore and got the Ravens deep into Washington territory immediately. However, Washington’s defense full of young backups sacked Jackson twice and forced a field goal attempt. The Ravens missed.

Baltimore brought out Tyler Huntley on the next drive and Washington has yet to stop him. Huntley has completed 14 of 17 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for a touchdown.

Washington’s offense couldn’t get much going. Quarterback Kyle Allen completed 10 of 22 passes for 100 yards. He did have a few drops, though.

Wide receiver Antonio Gandy-Golden has four receptions for 39 yards, while Dax Milne has two catches for 33 yards.

Washington’s defense has yet to force a punt. Meanwhile, Tress Way has punted four times.

As of now, Baltimore’s 19-game preseason winning streak looks safe, making head coach John Harbaugh happy.

 

WATCH: Washington receiver Dax Milne make terrific catch along the sideline

There hasn’t been a lot to cheer for in the first half of the Washington Football Team’s final preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens.

There hasn’t been a lot to cheer for in the first half of the Washington Football Team’s final preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens jumped out to a 16-0 lead, with Washington barely getting anything going on offense.

However, late in the second quarter, Washington finally moved past midfield when quarterback Kyle Allen found rookie wide receiver Dax Milne for a 26-yard connection along the sideline.

It was an impressive throw and catch.

Unfortunately for Washington, the offense sputtered again shortly thereafter, and the team brought on kicker Dustin Hopkins for a 55-yard field goal attempt.

He missed, and the Ravens got the ball in good field position.

In the first half, Milne leads Washington with two receptions for 33 yards. Antonio Gandy-Golden has been impressive, too, catching three passes for 27 yards.

That’s about it for Washington’s offense in the first half.

 

Last-minute news and notes before Washington’s preseason finale

Some last-minute news and notes before Washington’s preseason finale against the Ravens.

The Washington Football Team will be without their top two quarterbacks against the Baltimore Ravens in the preseason finale.  Head coach Ron Rivera will not play Ryan Fitzpatrick and Taylor Heinicke, instead going with Kyle Allen and Steven Montez.

Apparently, Washington will be without most of its starters.

Here are all of Washington’s starters, per Rhiannon Walker of The Athletic.

One item of note is Peyton Barber starting at running back. You’d think this would be a time for the coaching staff to evaluate rookie Jaret Patterson further.

Is this the latest sign that Patterson’s spot is secure?

Washington is going with Antonio Gandy-Golden, Dax Milne and DeAndre Carter at wide receiver. These three are all fighting for the final one — or two — spots on the roster at receiver.

Another interesting spot is at defensive end. William Bradley-King and Daniel Wise will get the first crack at impressing the coaching staff. Shaka Toney should also see plenty of time, too.

Washington and Baltimore kick off at 6 p.m. EDT.

Ryan Fitzpatrick and Taylor Heinicke will not play for Washington in preseason finale

Washington will roll with Kyle Allen and Steven Montez in the final preseason game.

The Washington Football Team will not play either of their top quarterbacks in the preseason finale against the Baltimore Ravens. Both Ryan Fitzpatrick and Taylor Heinicke will receive the night off, per JP Finlay of NBC Sports Washington.

It’s no surprise Fitzpatrick will not play. Fitzpatrick didn’t take any of the reps at Thursday’s practice in Ashburn, and it was not due to injury. Apparently, head coach Ron Rivera had seen enough of Fitzpatrick in the preseason and deemed him ready for the regular season.

Allen, who missed the first preseason game when he aggravated his surgically repaired ankle, made his debut last week against the Bengals. Montez played in the first game against New England but did not play last week against Cincinnati.

Washington and the Baltimore Ravens will kick off at 6 p.m. EDT at FedEx Field.

 

 

Washington releases 4 players on Tuesday

Washington released four players on Tuesday morning, leaving the team with 81 before Tuesday’s 4 p.m. deadline.

Every NFL team must be down to 80 players by 4 p.m. EDT on Tuesday.

The Washington Football Team got to work early on Tuesday, releasing four players. Washington must still release one more player to get to 80.

Linebacker Justin Phillips, offensive tackle Rick Leonard, cornerback Jordan Brown and defensive lineman Justus Reed were the four players released. None were surprising.

Washington originally signed Phillips and Brown to the practice squad in November. Leonard was signed to the practice squad in December, while the team signed Reed just three days into training camp.

The team released wide receiver Steven Sims Jr. on Monday but also activated offensive tackle David Sharpe off the reserve/COVID-19 list, keeping the roster at 85 players.

After Monday’s practice, head coach Ron Rivera confirmed that the team wanted to let Sims look for other opportunities ahead of next week’s final cuts.