Dwayne Haskins is getting a chance at his own comeback story after the king of such tales, Alex Smith, was ruled out of Sunday’s game with a strained right calf.
The Washington Football team’s four-game winning streak is on the line against the Seahawks, and Haskins, the former Ohio State quarterback, will be tasked with keeping it alive.
In doing so, the Giants’ NFC East title hopes may get a boost. They trail Washington by one game with three to go. The Giants are dealing with their own quarterback issues with Colt McCoy likely to start for the banged-up Daniel Jones against the Browns.
It will be Haskins’ first start since a Week 4 loss to the Ravens. He was benched following the defeat and there were reports his work ethic and preparation time were lacking.
“I would say I’m pretty resilient,” Haskins told reporters, according to ESPN. “Life gets at you fast, and the biggest thing you can do is stand in the fire and walk through the flame and that’s what I did.”
Haskins replaced the injured Smith in the second half of last Sunday’s win over the 49ers and wasn’t asked to do much, throwing for 51 yards on 7-of-12 passing. Smith was unable to practice this week.
Haskins was the Week 1 starter, in part due to the lack of a true preseason, coach Ron Rivera had said. Washington won just one of his four starts and Haskins produced a woeful QBR of 28.7.
Although Smith didn’t produce huge numbers in his five starts, throwing three touchdown passes and three interceptions, he guided Washington well during this winning streak. Now it’s up to Haskins to pick up where Smith left off.
“Dwayne has worked hard. He’s paid attention and has watched,” Rivera said. “I believe he’s learned.”
“I can still spin it,” Haskins added. “It’s never been a question about that. The biggest thing this week is getting back into the rhythm.”
It has been a difficult year for Haskins, the 15th overall pick in the 2019 draft. He lost his job and faced public criticism. That was apparent after the win over the 49ers, when he showed his emotions in a Zoom press conference.
“I would say the biggest growth that I’ve had has just been as a person,” Haskins said then. “This is the biggest amount of adversity I’ve faced since coming into the world. I’m just glad that I’m able to be here right now.”