Washington Commanders coach Ron Rivera continues to dismiss questions about any potential pursuit of franchise-tagged Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, Kevin Patra of NFL.com reports.

Speaking Tuesday from the Annual League Meeting, Rivera again cited the promise of second-year signal-caller Sam Howell as the motivation for eschewing more expansive options.

"The main reason we're going with Sam is we think Sam's going to be a good football player. We really do," Rivera said. "If the guy had come out (in 2021), he'd have been a first- or second-round pick. We were fortunate. He fell to the fifth round because people didn't think it was a strong class. Remember, he was the frontrunner for the Heisman that year, coming out of a season where he lost three offensive linemen to the draft, a tight end to the draft, a wide receiver, Dyami (Brown), to the draft, and two running backs. That's seven primary players off of an offense that was very dynamic and explosive. Go back and research that and see those things, and you'll see what we've seen. I really do believe that."

Rivera cited Howell's progress late in the 2022 season when he began getting more practice reps as the No. 2 behind Taylor Heinicke, noting that the then-rookie picked up things quicker and began correcting mistakes.

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