Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell was benched in the fourth quarter of his team’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday afternoon, but head coach Ron Rivera says that the Commanders were just trying to protect Howell.

“Well, [we were] just really trying to take care of him a little bit,” Rivera said, via Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. “He got into a situation and then the ears pinned back like that. Didn’t want to see anything crazy.”

Washington was trailing 28-7 when Howell was replaced by Jacoby Brissett. The Commanders actually proceeded to score 13 unanswered points, but ultimately fell 28-20.

“I think it’s more of just a game flow,” Rivera said of sitting Howell in favor of Brissett. “It is one of those things you get to this point and when teams are just putting their ears back. And we got a lot of faith that Jacoby is for us.”

Howell went just 11-for-26 with 102 yards and a touchdown before exiting. Meanwhile, Brissett went 8-for-10 with 124 yards and a couple of touchdowns.

“You saw some of the decisions he made were very quick and he got rid of the ball quickly,” Rivera said of Brissett, who is a well-traveled veteran.

On the season overall, Sam Howell has thrown for 3,568 yards, 19 touchdowns and a league-worst 15 interceptions while completing 64.7 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 83.9.

The 23-year-old, who played his collegiate football at the University of North Carolina, was selected by the Commanders in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft.

He made one start during his rookie campaign, going 11-for-19 with 169 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

Washington is 4-10 on the season and will take on the New York Jets next weekend. It will then close out the regular season by facing the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys.

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