The Washington Commanders will be turning to a former starter to handle the workload under center in the coming weeks — or until Carson Wentz is healthy enough to play again. With Wentz expected to be sidelined for multiple weeks because of a finger injury, Ron Rivera is tapping Taylor Heinicke to be the temporary starter for Washington. The Commanders also have a rookie quarterback in Sam Howell, but Rivera is not keen on giving the keys to the offense to him just yet.

Via JP Finlay of NBC Sports Washington:

“Rivera says going with rookie QB Sam Howell was not a consideration: ‘The focus is Taylor, it's still early in the year…Dont want to put Sam in a situation like that this early in his career…Sam is still learning'”

The Commanders selected Howell in the fifth round (144th overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft, with some viewing him as the potential future franchise quarterback of Washington. But Heinicke has a ton of experience over Howell, and as Rivera made clear, the Commanders are still not out of the race yet in the NFC East despite a 2-4 start.

Taylor Heinicke started 15 games in the 2021 NFL season for the Commanders and played in 16 games overall, collecting a total of 3,419 passing yards and 20 touchdowns against 15 interceptions while connecting on 65 percent of his passes.

Sam Howell, on the other hand, had a solid stint in college with the North Carolina Tar Heels, playing in Chapel Hill for three years and amassing 10,283 passing yards and 92 touchdowns with 23 interceptions.