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Ron Rivera Presser: Carson Wentz is cleared to throw, not return to practice; Taylor Heinicke to start

Ron Rivera speaks to the media after a late afternoon practice

Washington Commanders Head Coach Ron Rivera named Taylor Heinicke the starter for Sunday's away game against the Houston Texans. Carson Wentz has been on IR for the last four weeks after breaking his right ring finger against the Chicago Bears on Thursday Night Football. Rivera said he was throwing lightly last week, and he has been cleared to throw officially. He has not been cleared to return to practice, and while Rivera left the door barely open for him to be Heunicke's backup, he's likely to stay inactive this week.

Chase Young will reportedly be activated this week, but Rivera said if he does play on Sunday he will be on a pitch count. Young tore his ACL a year ago and had reconstruction surgery that resulted in Dr James Andrews using a graft from his left patellar tendon to reconstruct the ACL in his right knee.

Ron Rivera

Carson Wentz vs Taylor Heinicke:

Carson Wentz as the backup this week?:

Chase Young:

Taylor Heinicke appeared on the Pat McAfee show yesterday and had a pretty interesting interview. He rehashed a few things he talked about there including the plane ride home where he was getting iced out by his teammates and he seemed more interested in double fisting Busch Lights(endorsement incoming) from a trashcan full of ice and beer.

He also said he might buy his offensive line some Jordan’s after it was brought up that he buys a new pair with the $125k bonus he gets for every win he has as a starter. He confirmed he did buy them new shoes, just now the same ones he got for himself.

Heinicke talked about not underestimating the Houston Texans, even though they only have one win. They have played a few teams hard, and could easily have a few less losses this year. Heinicke also said he’s been working on finding Terry McLaurin on the deep passes.

Taylor Heinicke

Plane ride home:

Jordans for the offensive line:

Houston Texans:

Terry McLaurin:

Darrick Forrest

Fumble recovery:

Casey Toohill

The Griddy:

Practice Updates

Bubble walkthrough

Chase Young

No Carson Wentz

Injured players: