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Why Ryan Clark is picking the Commanders over the Texans in Week 11 (0:51)

The Texans aren't good enough defensively to keep up with the Commanders. It was :51.

8:53 AM ET

According to a source, the Washington Commanders will stick with Taylor Heinicke as their starting quarterback if he continues to play well.

Heinicke will make his fifth start in a row on Sunday when Washington plays the Houston Texans.

He was placed on injured reserve because of a ring finger injury. Washington didn't think he was ready to come off IR.

The surge with Heinicke under center has left the organization with a decision to make. Ron Rivera didn't want to reveal his intentions before speaking to the players. According to a source, the decision to stay with Heinicke was made by the player.

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The current situation with Heinicke as the starter is what one source predicted several weeks ago if the Commanders had responded well to Heinicke.

Washington traded a third-round pick in 2022 and a third-round pick in 2023 to the Indianapolis Colts in order to acquire the rights to Wentz. In April of last year, the teams swapped picks. Washington has a salary cap of almost $30 million.

The pick for Indianapolis is affected by the start of Heinicke. The Colts would owe the Commanders a second-round pick if they played 70% of Washington's snaps. The player has played 59.1% of the plays. If Heinicke starts one more game, the Colts will only get a third-round pick.

In Washington's first two games, Wentz threw seven touchdown passes, but the offense only scored 47 points the rest of the way.

While playing in a new offensive system for the first time in his seven seasons, the quarterback has thrown 10 touchdown passes and six interception. He was sacked 23 times because of the learning curve, inconsistent pass protection, and knee and back injuries. The QBR is a measure of a person's ability.

Heinicke, who has spent parts of five seasons in this offense, has helped with his mobility. He has 37 targets and 24 catches in four games with Heinicke.

He has become a popular player in the locker room due to his go-all-out style of play and the fact that he was sleeping on his sister's couch.

Rivera's comments made sense.

One day after Heinicke helped upset the Eagles, Rivera said that the team's mood has to be looked at. There are a lot of things going on.

The Commanders decided to stay with Heinicke.