Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera announced Friday that second-year pro Sam Howell will begin the season as the team's starting quarterback.
Howell beat out veteran Jacoby Brissett to start Washington's season opener against the Arizona Cardinals on Sept. 10.
The 2022 fifth-round pick started the Commanders' final game of last season and entered the offseason as the favorite to win the job, though the team added the more experienced Brissett in March to provide competition.
Howell won the battle with a strong performance in the Commanders' preseason opener against the Cleveland Browns last week. The 22-year-old completed nine of 12 attempts for 77 yards and threw a 26-year-old touchdown pass to Jahan Dotson in Washington's 17-15 win.
"He's basically met the challenge that we've talked about, and that was seeing the growth and improvement from (offseason training activities) and minicamp," Rivera told reporters before Friday's practise. "And then (we) talked about going into training camp and continue to grow and show us what he's capable of.
"We've been very pleased with (his progression), to the point where I decided (Thursday) we were going to name him the starter going into the regular season."
After spending much of his rookie year as the Commanders' No. 3 quarterback, Howell got the nod for the team's 2022 season finale against the Dallas Cowboys and helped Washington to a 26-6 win. The North Carolina product completed 11 of 19 passes for 169 yards with one touchdown and one interception, while adding 35 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground.
Howell will be the seventh different quarterback in the last seven seasons to start an opener for Washington, which is coming off an 8-8-1 season but finished last in the competitve NFC East division.
Brissett, who's started a total of 48 games with four teams over a seven-year career, gives Washington a capable alternative should Howell struggle in his first opportunity as a full-time starter.
The 30-year-old spent most of last season as the Browns' starting quarterback with Deshaun Watson serving an 11-game suspension. Brissett finished the campaign with 2,608 passing yards and 12 touchdowns and was intercepted just six times to go along with a 64 per cent completion percentage.
Giants releasing embattled quarterback Daniel Jones
The Daniel Jones era in New York has officially ended.
The Giants agreed to Jones’ request to be released Friday morning, ending a rocky partnership that lasted nearly six seasons.
Giants president John Mara said in a statement that Jones’ release “would be best for him and for the team.”
“Daniel has been a great representative of our organisation, first class in every way,” Mara said in the statement. “His handling of this situation yesterday exemplifies just that. We are all disappointed in how things have worked out.”
The Giants benched Jones in favour of Tommy DeVito during their bye week. On Thursday, Jones told reporters he takes “full responsibility” for not winning more as the captain of one of the NFL’s signature franchises.
After learning of his new role, however, Jones asked the team to be released.
Jones signed a four-year, $160million contract extension before the 2023 season. Jones will go through the waivers process, but teams are likely unwilling to pay the rest of that contract. If he clears waivers, he will become an unrestricted free agent.
The Giants will absorb a salary cap hit of around $20million by releasing Jones.
Jones was the sixth overall pick in the 2019 draft and has started 69 games over the last six seasons.
The former Duke quarterback had his best season in a contract year in 2022, throwing 15 touchdowns to just five interceptions and adding 708 yards and seven scores on the ground.
Jones has thrown eight touchdown passes and seven interceptions this season for the 2-8 Giants and ranks 32nd among qualified quarterbacks with a 79.4 passer rating.
Browns score late touchdown to end Steelers' streak in snowy contest
Nick Chubb ran for a 2-yard touchdown in heavy snow with 57 seconds left, and the Cleveland Browns stunned division rival Pittsburgh 24-19 on Thursday night, ending the Steelers' five-game winning streak.
Chubb's score came in his first game against the AFC North-leading Steelers (8-3) since the running back sustained a season-ending left knee injury on a carry last year at Pittsburgh.
The Browns (3-8) had blown a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter and were down 19-18 before getting the ball back with 3:22 remaining after Pittsburgh punter Corliss Waitman shanked a 16-yarder.
With snow piling up and covering the yard lines on the field, Cleveland's Jameis Winston completed a third-down pass to Jerry Jeudy to the Pittsburgh 9. Two plays later, Chubb barrelled into the end zone.
The Steelers had one last chance, but quarterback Russell Wilson's Hail Mary on the final play was knocked down by Browns safety Grant Delpit in the end zone, touching off a wild celebration at Huntington Bank Field.
NFL: Texans bounce back, extend Cowboys' woes
Joe Mixon's 109 rushing yards and three touchdowns helped get the Houston Texans back on track with Monday's 34-10 win over the floundering Dallas Cowboys.
Houston (7-4) snapped a two-game losing streak behind Mixon's powerful running and a defence that sacked Cowboys' fill-in quarterback Cooper Rush five times and forced two turnovers, including a fumble Derek Barnett returned 28 yards for a touchdown that gave the Texans a 27-10 lead in the fourth quarter.
Dallas (3-7) has now lost five straight, its longest skid since dropping seven in a row in 2015, and fell to 0-5 at home. The Cowboys have been outscored by 118 points (187-69) at AT&T Stadium, the third-largest negative differential through five home games in a season in NFL history.
Rush did throw a 64-yard touchdown pass to KaVontae Turpin in his second straight start subbing for an injured Dak Prescott, and finished with a career-high 354 passing yards with one interception while completing 32 of 55 attempts.
C.J. Stroud threw for 257 yards with an interception for Houston, which extended its lead over the second-place Indianapolis Colts to two games in the AFC South.
The Texans never trailed after Mixon ripped off a 45-yard touchdown run on the game's opening drive, and the veteran running back added a 1-yard scoring plunge late in the first quarter to give Houston a 14-0 lead.
Turpin got Dallas on the board by taking a short pass from Rush and breaking free from the Houston defence nine seconds into the second quarter, but the Cowboys were shut out in the second half after pulling to within 17-10 on Brandon Aubrey's 53-yard field goal with just under six minutes left before half-time.
Burnett's strip sack of Rush and return of the resulting fumble helped put the game away with 12:31 left, and Mixon tacked on his final touchdown of the night with 3:16 remaining to cap a 35-yard drive that began after the Texans stopped the Cowboys on downs.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
