As the 7-7-1 Washington Commanders look to make the postseason, head coach Ron Rivera has made a change at quarterback. Rivera benched Taylor Heinicke in favor of Carson Wentz. Now, the Commanders' head coach has given an explanation behind the QB change.
Wentz will be the team's starting quarterback as Washington takes on the Cleveland Browns in Week 17. Rivera went into detail on why he chose to start Wentz, as reported by ESPN's John Keim. Rivera stated that he likes where Wentz is physically and thinks he is the guy to help the Commanders break into the postseason.
“What he showed was that he's fully healthy, he's got fresh legs right now, and got a lively arm,” Rivera said. “He made very quick decisions. He showed us that quick twitch that you look for in quarterbacks, and his decision-making seemed to be right out.
Washington traded two third-round picks and swapped 2023 second-round picks with the Indianapolis Colts to land Wentz. He started the first six games for the Commanders, but then suffered a finger injury.
That led to Heinicke being inserted as the Commanders' starting QB. In nine games as a starter, Heinicke went 5-3-1, completing 62% of his passes for 1,859 yards, 12 touchdowns and six interceptions.
However, Washington 0-2-1 heading into their matchup with the San Francisco 49ers in Week 16, Ron Rivera decided to bench Heinicke in favor of Wentz, who had fully recovered from injury, to end the game. The Commanders still lost 37-20, but Wentz completed 12-of-16 passes for 123 yards and a touchdown.
Now, Wentz seems to be Washington's starting quarterback moving forward. With the Commanders on the brink of the playoffs, Rivera is hoping the QB change will help get his team over the hump.
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