Tale of two QBs Tate benched?
New York made Daniel Jones the second quarterback taken in the 2019 draft, at No. 6, and Washington followed by selecting Dwayne Haskins at No. 15. They have had very different second pro seasons under a new coach.
Jones is enduring some growing pains. He threw two costly interceptions in a loss Monday night to Tampa Bay to get to nine this season, and hasn’t seemed to learn how to get rid of the ball under pressure 20 starts into his NFL career.
“I need to do a better job understanding when the play is over, when it’s not there and when the best outcome is to throw it away, or in some cases to take a sack,” Jones said. “In certain situations like that, I can certainly improve. I’ll continue to work on it.”
Haskins isn’t getting to work through struggles in games after Rivera benched and demoted the Ohio State product to third-string four games into the season. Kyle Allen starts, Alex Smith backs up and Haskins only gets limited practice snaps after going from a prospective franchise QB to inactive on game days.
“I think Dwayne is understanding,” Rivera said. “He and I have talked, and I said, ‘Dwayne, this really is about your development and growth.’ He’s a young, young quarterback.”
Friday’s rumor mill had receiver Golden Tate possibly being named inactive today despite being healthy.
Even if Tate does play, it’ll be interesting to see how many times Jones targets him. The 31-year-old veteran created a stir late in the Tampa Bay game when he walked up to a television camera after catching a touchdown pass and yelled “throw me the ball.” The following day, Tate’s wife, Elise, went on social media to complain that her husband was being under-utilized despite being open.
Coach Joe Judge had a long talk with Tate this week and said the team was handling the situation internally.
“He’s made a lot of plays over these last couple of years, and I certainly have a lot of trust in him as a player,” Jones said. “I certainly value our relationship, respect him. My job is to distribute the ball to our playmakers and let them make plays. He’s a great player and we’ll keep trying to get him the ball.”
Tate has been targeted 29 times this season, making 22 catches for 226 yards and two touchdowns in seven games.
Fans at FedEx
This will be Washington’s first home game this season with fans in attendance — 3,000 at most — after the stands were limited to friends and family against the Rams and Cowboys because of the pandemic. Rivera is looking forward to hearing what 3,000 fans sound like, and his players know from a few road games that even limited spectators can make a difference.