Washington Football Team: Ron Rivera puts Dwayne Haskins on notice after poor Week 3

It appears that Ron Rivera has put Dwayne Haskins on notice after he struggled in the Washington Football Team’s Week 3 loss to the Browns.

The Washington Football Team looked like they were going to have a chance to beat the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. The team came out of the gate well and held their first, first-half lead of the season. In the second half, they had a 20-17 lead and were able to move the ball well at times in the third quarter.

However, the team ultimately lost by a final score of 34-20. The main reason for that was five turnovers by the offense including four from Dwayne Haskins. It was a poor performance for Haskins, his worst of the season, and he truly didn’t look like a quality starter in the game.

Now, after that outing, Ron Rivera and Washington’s offensive coaching staff has put Haskins on notice. As NBC Sports Washington’s JP Finlay described, the coaching staff had a meeting to discuss what they expect from the Washington quarterback moving forward.

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"Sources told NBC Sports Washington that during the meeting Rivera explained that while Haskins has a lot of talent and showed significant growth this offseason learning the playbook and in training camp, his play through three games has been lacking. What’s worse, last week’s game in Cleveland showed clear regression and one source explained that cannot continue if Haskins wants to stay on the field. Offensive coaches also sat down with Haskins this week to highlight opportunities to make plays and show missed chances that could lead to better results.While coaches meeting with the quarterback is quite normal, one source explained the tone of the meetings made clear the gravity of the situation: It’s time to play better."

This is a completely fair and warranted meeting for Washington. Haskins has not been good so far this season and if he can’t make strides moving forward, the team is going to try out another option. This year is all about evaluating what Haskins can and can’t do, and if the team feels that he isn’t making the strides needed to be a competitive starter, they will move on.

It’s also worth noting that this may be the team’s way of challenging Haskins. He could respond well to this even ahead of tough games against the Baltimore Ravens and Los Angeles Rams.

Coaches often try to light a fire under young quarterbacks, and there’s no doubt that Haskins will feel the pressure to play better. If the strategy works, perhaps Haskins will show that he can be a long-term starter. If he crumbles, well, then it’s back to the drawing board for Washington.

Either way, this meeting is a good sign for the future of the Washington franchise. It shows that Rivera and Co. aren’t afraid to deal with problem spots in the team’s performance head-on and that they’re willing to communicate expectations honestly to players before giving them the hook. That’s a sign of good leadership, even if it’s not the results fans are hoping for from Haskins.

We’ll soon see what comes of all this. Hopefully, Haskins responds and plays better than expected against the Ravens in Week 4. Only time will tell if he’ll make the strides needed to be an effective starter.