Ron Rivera Reveals Commanders Preseason Week 1 Starting QB

Head coach Ron Rivera has multiple quarterbacks that will all draw eyes during Washington’s preseason opener.

The Washington Commanders are preparing for their first preseason game of the summer, as the visiting Carolina Panthers will travel to FedEx Field. 

Both teams made splashes in the quarterback department, trading for big name starters during the past offseason.

But who will get the majority of the snaps for the Commanders once the game kicks off?

Head coach Ron Rivera recently previewed the quarterbacks’ expected playing time and the order in which they will enter the game.

“All three quarterbacks will play. Taylor [Heinicke] will come in after Carson [Wentz] and then Sam (Howell) will finish up,” Rivera said. “With Taylor, we will probably get him into the third quarter a little bit and we will let Sam finish up.”

Rivera also told the media that he hopes the starters will get somewhere around "15 plays or so" in Saturday's preseason opener.

Howell, the rookie out of North Carolina, entered the summer as the third gunslinger on the depth chart, but had high expectations from the coaching staff.

“What will be really good and what we worked on, the last thing we worked on today, I would love to see Sam get a two-minute at the end of the game, that would be really cool,” Rivera said.

With both Carson Wentz and Howell joining the team after seasons in other places, the one quarterback that has experience in the Washington system would be Taylor Heinicke, who has admitted that he is content with the backup role.

“I understand it, my role is to back him up,” Heinicke said this past week. “I’ll be ready to go in, but I accept my role.”

The Commanders kick off the preseason Saturday at 1 p.m.