The Commanders had Taylor Heinicke on the roster this offseason, but they opted to make a trade with the Colts in order to make Carson Wentz their starting quarterback rather than stick with him.
Wentz’s first six games with the team did little to make that look like an upgrade and Heinicke’s work against the Packers on Sunday didn’t make anyone long for Wentz’s return from his finger injury. Heinicke went 20-of-33 for 201 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception in a 23-21 win that lifted the Commanders to 3-4 on the season.
After the win, wide receiver Terry McLaurin said that Heinicke’s “energy spreads throughout this team” and Heinicke passed on using any of his energy to castigate those who doubted his ability to handle the starting job.
“I don’t care about doubters. I don’t care what they have to say,” Heinicke said, via Ethan Cadeaux of NBCSportsWashington.com. “I care about the people who believe in me, and I want to prove them right. That means more to me than anyone else that has something negative to say. . . . I want to prove the people that believe in me right more than the doubters wrong. I could care less about those people.”
Heinicke made some more believers with his performance on Sunday and a few more games like that one may make it so that the only doubt in Washington is about the team’s ability to evaluate the quarterbacks they have against the ones other teams are trying to dump in a trade.