Redskins’ Dwayne Haskins Era Starts Now

Washington Redskins’ coach Bill Callahan played it coy with reporters when it came to his thoughts on Dwayne Haskins’ status after making his first appearance as a starter against the Buffalo Bills.

Callahan noted that he wanted to think about his next move over the bye week. His vague responses led everyone to believe that once again he probably would not commit to Haskins.

In actuality, Callahan already decided that Haskins would remain the starting quarterback for the rest of the season, he just wasn’t ready to share the news publicly. He finally made the announcement this week.

“The rationale behind not announcing it early on Monday is we were just coming off the Buffalo game and I wanted to take time to sit down with our veteran quarterbacks and I wanted to share that information with them,” coach Callahan said. “I really wanted to spend time with them and visit with them because I have a lot of respect for those guys”

The rhetoric surrounding Haskins has questioned whether or not he is ready for the NFL. However, many of his teammates believe in him and think his progress is tied to the amount of first team reps he is able to get in practice and on gameday.

“I told you guys that once the kid starts getting valuable reps in practice, he’s going to look a lot better and did he not come through in the Buffalo game?” offensive lineman Morgan Moses said.

“I like what I’ve seen from Dwayne,” running back Adrian Peterson said. “It was great to see him get one week of preparation under his belt to see how he would perform. He came out there and did a great job. There’s still room for improvement which you have with every rookie. But the tools this kid has is amazing.”

As for Haskins himself, he has never doubted his potential. Not only does he have security that he will lead the team for the rest of the season, he will play his first home game as the starting quarterback on Sunday versus the New York Jets.

“I’m really excited about it. I just want to be able to go out there, go one play at a time and hopefully get a W,” stated Haskins

A native of Potomac, Maryland, Haskins watched the Redskins play at FedEx Field in high school in hopes of playing in the NFL. Now, it’s becoming surreal to the rookie starting in his first game at FedEx Field.

“Being able to play at home and being from this area means a lot more to me than it would for another guy,” Haskins said. “So, being able to play in front of my family, in front of the fans that’ve been watching me since I was 15 years old means a lot to me.”

The Jets’ head coach Adam Gase understands that rookie quarterbacks need reps whether good or bad to develop in that role.

“As a coach, you kind of know there’s a little bit of that development stage that you got to go through,” Gase said. “There’s mistakes that need to be made, and you learn from them. I think the more he plays, the more comfortable he’ll keep getting, especially the more he runs that system.”

Haskins is aware that he is facing a learning curve and the Jets defense will be a huge challenge for him. However, he’s not focused on that or proving himself to others.

“I just want to prove to myself to put the work in and be accountable for me and my teammates,” Haskins said. “I know I can play at a high level, so I’ve just got to go do it.”

And now the long-awaited Dwayne Haskins era officially begins.

Carita Parks

Washington D.C.

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