ASHBURN, VA (WTKR)- How things can change in one year.
December 8, 2020, saw Washington sign a free agent quarterback named Taylor Heinicke to its practice squad. He was the safety quarterback in the pandemic, but it was the start of a roller coaster journey that now has him leading one of the hottest teams in the NFL on a hopeful playoff run.
"It's a crazy ride, and even more so now," Heinicke said on Wednesday during a one-on-one interview with News 3. "During the season it's hectic. Daily, there's something to be done so I try not to think about it, try to take it day-by-day, because I feel like you do that, good things happen."
Wednesday marked exactly one year since Heinicke signed with Washington and he's finding his stride. During the burgundy and gold's four game winning streak, the former Monarch has thrown seven touchdown passes to just two interceptions and has the fifth-highest total quarterback rating in the NFL.
"The more I've played, the more comfortable I've been, the more confident I've gotten," the former ODU star noted. "I'm just trying to do my job, get the ball into those plakymakers' hands and let them do their thing."
This week marks another first for Heinicke- Dallas Week. He's starting to notice that this one just feels a little bit different than the others.
"It's my first time being on Washington playing against Dallas," he said. "I'm starting to understand the rivalry, I know it's a big one. You start to feel the energy from a lot of people."
As for his teammates, they're certainly feeling the energy from their quarterback, who has the football team controlling its own destiny with a big five games against divisional opponents to go down the stretch.
"Guys believe in something and they really feel they have a chance," Washington head coach Ron Rivera said. "All they need is that opportunity and that's what we were hoping to create. To get to where we are right now with the opportunity with the door wide open, now we've just got to step through it."
"It's huge," Heinicke added. "It's what you work all offseason for. You want that chance to get into the playoffs. We were 2-6, it wasn't looking too great, it's a credit to all of our guys, all of our coaches, to just keep grinding. It's a long season, here we are at 6-6 looking the playoffs in the face and it's really up to us."
That crucial stretch of five NFC East contests to wrap up the regular season kicks off with the Cowboys this Sunday at 1:00 PM.
