After what we all saw from Washington QB Alex Smith on Sunday night in a win against the Philadelphia Eagles, there seems to be a feeling that the team needs more going forward in order to keep the good times rolling and pick up a playoff win in wild-card weekend.
In order to do this, Washington coach Ron Rivera explained on Tuesday that he’s open to the idea of potentially rotating quarterbacks against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in order to give the offense different looks and avoid putting all of the pressure on Smith and his leg. This would mean that backup QB Taylor Heinicke gets a fair amount of work too, if the team decides to go that way.
Ron Rivera makes clear he’s not saying Washington will rotate QBs but that the team will consider it.
— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) January 5, 2021
This would be a bold strategy for Washington to take, especially in the NFL playoffs, and it’s one that will require a lot of extra attention from all the players involved, not only the QBs. Rotating quarterbacks has sometimes been frowned upon, seeing as it gives neither player a great opportunity to get into a rhythm. However, it would force the Bucs defense to stay on their toes, especially considering the fact that there is very little tape on Heinicke, so they know less about what he can really do.
We’ll see if Washington ends up doing this, and pay attention to some possible trends in practice this week, but for now, we at least know it’s an option.
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