Rivera sees strides of improvement in Dwayne Haskins' maturity originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
With under four minutes to go in Washington's best win of the season against the Cowboys on Thanksgiving, second-string quarterback Dwayne Haskins rushed over to pick up Alex Smith after taking a hit towards the sideline. Hasksins was also among the first on the sideline to celebrate with his teammates after scoring touchdowns.
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For a young player who was knocked for immaturity issues after getting demoted to third in the QB depth chart earlier in the season, actions like these really go a long way in showing his strides in the maturity department.
"Without a doubt, Dwayne has grown, I really do think, in the last month in terms of the things that we talked about - that we wanted to see him understand and get and build on," Rivera told media postgame. "The young man is a talent, he's got an arm that's an NFL talent, and he's learning the rest of it."
Remember, Haskins was criticized for stat bragging during a loss to the Browns and for not preparing enough during the week leading up to games. Now, he's stepping up to the task and all the work that entails to be successful in the NFL -- and that starts on the practice field.
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"I've said before, he hasn't played a lot of football, we do want to create opportunities for him to play football," Rivera said. "Right now, he's practicing, he's practicing well. He's meeting, he's understanding what it takes for him, at least he is right now."
While Haskins was the one to help Smith from the ground on Thursday, it's been Smith's professionalism serving as the perfect example of how Haskins needs to carry himself moving forward.
"I like what he's doing on the football field. You guys don't get to see it, but between him and Steven Montez, you see the two young quarterbacks mimicking during the drills, during the periods, what Alex is doing," Rivera said. "So, they're learning. That's a huge plus."
