Tag: Scott Turner called Taylor Heinicke

Are Ron Rivera, Scott Turner and Taylor Heinicke on the rocks?

Signs seem to be pointing to some sort of a split between Heinicke, Rivera and Turner.

Has the relationship of Ron Rivera, Scott Turner and Taylor Heinicke reached a fork in the road?

Sunday, following a Commanders 26-6 win over the visiting Cowboys, Heinicke was emotional leaving the field. Was he contemplating that he might have played his last game for the Burgundy and Gold?

Two weeks prior, Heinicke was visibly uncomfortable, even telling the press, “It sucks” when he had been pulled during the second half of the 49ers game, and Wentz replaced him.

Heinicke had to expect with an elimination game against the Browns approaching, Rivera would give Wentz the start. Rivera had traded for Wentz and agreed to pay him $28 million this season. Of course, he went back to Wentz after the way Heinicke struggled in both games against the Giants.

Even more, losing to the Browns, Rivera had turned back to Heinicke for the finale against Dallas. We do know Heinicke basically said no thank you, Ron. What we don’t know is his attitude and how he expressed it to Rivera.

For the record, last week Rivera, to the press, expressed that Heinicke was being a good teammate in stating that he felt Howell had worked all year, and if Rivera was going to play Howell some, then why not go ahead and let Howell start the game as well.

I see two sides to this pretty quickly. Taylor might be wanting to leave to launch out for a bigger stage elsewhere with a bigger paycheck. Yet, will the grass be greener for Heinicke in another NFL town? Will he find another team willing to pay him starter’s money?

Rivera is now in an uncomfortable position with the majority of the fan base absolutely adoring Heinicke, to such a degree that if he doesn’t retain Heinicke the fan base is upset.

Certainly, Sam Howell, playing well against Dallas will help Rivera make his decision. In addition, if Rivera brings in another quarterback next year, how will the fan base accept the new guy?

Might Rivera be thinking about not bringing back Heinicke because Taylor is frankly reaching a celebrity status that forgoes rational thinking for many?

After Wentz was injured in Week 6 this season, requiring surgery, Heinicke started six games, and the Commanders went 5-1. However, the last three he started the Commanders were 0-2-1.

Taylor Heinicke was with Rivera and Turner in Carolina. In fact, Heinicke was with Turner (prior to Carolina) in Minnesota as well. They also obviously continued that relationship in Washington dating back to December of the 2020 season.

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Commanders Taylor Heinicke went from quarantine QB to starter

Taylor Heinicke’s journey in less than two years is a heckuva story. And it ties back to an undrafted wide receiver for the Denver Broncos.

Commanders fans, do you recall Kendall Hinton?

Hinton is a good percentage of the reason why you have Taylor Heinicke today in 2022.

On Nov. 22, 2020, the Broncos defeated the Miami Dolphins 20-13, raising their record to 4-6. But that was the last good news for the Broncos that week.

Suddenly, Jeff Driskel tested positive for COVID-19, and Drew Lock and Brett Rypien were also declared ineligible, having been with Driskel without wearing masks.

The Broncos were unprepared for such a disaster of suddenly losing, not one but all three of their quarterbacks on the roster. But the (NFL) show must go on. So taking snaps that day was Kendall Hinton.

Hinton was not an NFL quarterback, and he certainly didn’t have enough time to prep, to make much of a difference in his performance. He was only age 23 at the time and was an undrafted wide receiver from Wake Forest.

Yet there he was being forced to play quarterback in an NFL regular season game having no previous NFL experience at quarterback. The Broncos attempted to run the ball as much as they could gaining 100 yards on their 33 rushes.

Hinton attempted nine passes, completing one for 13 yards. He was sacked once and intercepted twice for an NFL passer rating of 0.0. It was a disaster; the Broncos of course lost badly to the Saints 31-3.

With the Minnesota Vikings staff, Scott Turner got to work some with Taylor Heinicke an undrafted quarterback out of Old Dominion. Heinicke had seen some action in the preseason, never appearing in a regular season game over two seasons (2015-16).

The Patriots signed and released Heinicke in 2017, as did the Texans, although he did attempt one pass for the Texans in 2017.

Turner and Ron Rivera signed Heinicke for the Carolina Panthers, and he started one game in 2018.

In December 2020, Turner called Heinicke, and Washington signed Heinicke to be its quarantine quarterback. He would study the offense, work out and pretty much be isolated initially.

Suddenly, Alex Smith’s leg was injured again, and Dwayne Haskins was not taking responsibility. Heinicke was brought up to the practice squad, then the roster appeared against the Panthers on Dec. 27, and got the start against the Bucs in the playoff game.

In 2022, Washington has won four of five games Heinicke has started, and he was named the team’s starter (not Carson Wentz) moving forward.

As Rivera said Monday, “It’s a heck of a story.”