Rivera explains some of Taylor Heinicke’s ups and downs in training camp

Heading into his first preseason as a Washington Football player, quarterback Taylor Heinicke has a lot on his plate. He continues to digest the daily grind of being a professional quarterback with a prominent role with a team. Regardless of whether Heinicke is the projected starter or not, which he is not, this is his first year in which a team has relied upon as the backup quarterback, and as someone the coaches will lean on if veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick is unavailable for whatever reason.

So far in training camp, Heinicke’s performance has had some positive moments but has been mostly underwhelming. Most beat reporters who have watched the action on a daily basis, including some who were high on Heinicke before camp, made observations that Fitzpatrick is miles ahead of him to this point. So, assessing what has been said and sporadic performances by Heinicke, there is no such thing as a quarterback competition as it currently stands.

In late July, Heincke mentioned the pressure he’s facing to prove himself and also things he’s been working to improve upon. He’s his own hardest critic and is not impressed with the two good games in Washington because they were both losses. Further, Heinicke mentioned that he’s always had trouble throwing to the left sometimes, and he has begun working to become more consistently good at throwing from that side. The struggles had carried over in camp at times and were noticeable by reporters. However, to add to that, Washington head coach Ron Rivera shed light on another variable that many had not considered, restricting Heinicke’s game to just staying inside of the pocket: 

Well, I think part of it is a big part of his game is moving outside the pocket, and when you’re limited in terms of what we’re doing there, sometimes you stick in there a little bit longer than you really should. Sometimes you try to force the ball when you don’t need to. I think that’s part of it right now. I mean, I’m not overly concerned. What I’m interested in is just seeing how he responds when we play the preseason games to assess it then. – HC Ron Rivera on Taylor Heinicke’s recent practice performances.

So it’s not always as bad as we think from an outsiders perspective; it is essential to note that sometimes when reports come out that a person is struggling or just hadn’t looked good, it could also be the case that some of that is a result of things that players or trying to work on. Let’s be clear, though: this isn’t dissolving Heinicke of the issues he has had since training camp started – he’s not been as impressive as many had hoped.  We just may need to wait and see how he plays in-game to form an full and informed opinion on his situation.