Washington Commanders' Ron Rivera 'Definitely Concerned' Over Sam Howell Hits

Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell is the second-most sacked signal caller in the NFL and Ron Rivera has his concerns over the hits the quarterback is taking.

Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell was struggling mightly behind his offensive line for the first seven games of the season. In each of them, Howell was sacked at least four times as he simply didn't get the protection needed.

With the Commanders still managing to win games despite that, it was always going to be a tall order for Howell to last the full 17-game season with the amount of punishment he was absorbing.

And head coach Ron Rivera revealed that he was concerned at the amount of hits his young quarterback was taking, but hinted how it is now a godo thing.

“Yes. Definitely concerned and a couple times we did think about pulling him at the end of some games," Rivera said. "But at the same time, in talking with [Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy] EB, it was about the growth and development, and the only way he was going to learn was to stay in there and it's kind of working itself out. That's the best part of it, is that it is working itself out and you can see him just play with much more and more confidence. You see the confidence in which his teammates are playing alongside him. That's been a huge plus for us as well.”

That confidence comes from learning on the job and in the NFL, that can be a brutal spot to be, but Howell has taken it in his stride, and in the last two weeks, the much-maligned offensive line has protected him better.

Against the ferocious Philadelphia Eagles pass rush, Howell was sacked just once and the New England Patriots "only" sacked Howell three times. That's progress.

Commanders head coach Ron Rivera was concerned with the number of hits Sam Howell has taken this season / Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

Given that Howell has been at the forefront of everything this season for the offense, as he is slowly coming to terms with Eric Bieniemy's scheme and learning what it takes to be an NFL starter, Rivera says he can see his young quarterback getting comfortable.

"You can see the comfort level in which he's executing the play call," Rivera said. "How he's involved in the protections, how he's involved in checking with the receivers and changing routes and stuff like that. It's taken a little bit to get there. We kind of figured it would take some time. We didn't expect him to take as many hits as he did early on, but what's happening is I think the confidence is starting to really show."

Howell's "confidence" will get another test as Washington travels to Lumen Field to face a Seattle Seahawks team that had the brakes beat off them 37-3 by the Baltimore Ravens.

Rivera states that Howell is getting comfortable in the offense, and against the Seahawks, he will be anything but, however, Howell has shown his resiliency throughout his young career and that will again be put to the test on Sunday.