The future isn’t now for Washington Redskins rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins — but interim coach Bill Callahan is ready to start working on it.
Haskins didn’t get any first-team reps in practice during the regular season until Case Keenum suffered an injury.
Callahan plans to change that, per Matthew Paras of The Washington Times:
“It might be a little bit of a shift in philosophy as we move forward. So he will be able to take repetitions at some point, whether it’s at the beginning, the end, the middle, but we’re really cognizant of trying to rep him up during the course of the practice so that he is prepared and that he does obviously get exposure to game-type repetitions that can get him potentially to a starting position here in the future or next year, whatever it may be.”
The shift is small but important and signals the gradual turn to Haskins as the future of the franchise. At 0-5, the Redskins have to start looking there instead of wasting first-team reps on veterans for hopes of winning a few games.
Haskins only practiced against the scout team most of the time under Gruden, which is common enough for a backup. Gruden was focused on wins and wanted to do everything he could to get Keenum up to speed in his system, hence waiting on a chance to develop Haskins.
That organization philosophy shift means Haskins will start getting more important reps as the season progresses. It doesn’t mean he’ll start this year — but the process of getting him in the lineup and keeping him there is underway.
