Rivera: Washington to have open competition for starting QB role

Ron Rivera isn't ready to name Ryan Fitzpatrick the Washington Football Team's starting quarterback just yet.

The head coach is planning an open competition that will see Fitzpatrick, Taylor Heinicke, and Kyle Allen enter training camp pitted against one another.

"It's going to be a good competition," Rivera said, according to ESPN's John Keim. "I look forward to it. It's going to push our football team and make our football team better. ... They are going to compete, they are going to push, and I'm looking forward to it."

A quarterback battle marks a departure from Rivera's approach in 2020 when he named Dwayne Haskins as the team's starter ahead of training camp. The second-year passer received most of the first-team reps and started four contests before being benched.

Rivera is hoping to avoid making the wrong decision two seasons in a row.

"The mistake I made was that my approach was wrong," he said. "I should have made as big a competition as possible, and that's on me."

Fitzpatrick is presumably the front-runner to win the starting job in 2021 given his 17 years of NFL experience. The 38-year-old will likely receive most of the first-team reps after signing a one-year, $10-million contract with Washington earlier this offseason.

Washington will look to defend its NFC East crown in 2021.

Copyright (C) 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.