Taylor Heinicke Feels He's Earned Right to Be Washington Football Team's Starting QB

Washington Football Team quarterback Taylor Heinicke said he's hoping to remain the team's starter for the remainder of the 2021 season after Thursday night's win over the NFC East rival New York Giants.

Heinicke, who stepped into the lineup to replace the injured Ryan Fitzpatrick, led Washington on an 11-play drive in the final minutes that ended with a game-winning field goal by Dustin Hopkins. Afterward, the signal-caller was asked whether he "earned the right" to keep the starting role, per Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post.

"I do," Heinicke replied. "And I have confidence that I can do it. If those guys in the locker room and the facility believe in me, that's all that matters, and I think they do."

The Georgia native has performed well since taking over for Fitzpatrick during the team's Week 1 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. He's completed 45 of his 61 throws (73.8 percent) for 458 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. He ranks 21st in ESPN's Total QBR.

Heinicke nearly made a fatal error late in the fourth quarter against the Giants, throwing an interception deep in his own territory with just over two minutes remaining and Washington up by one.

New York could only muster a field goal on the ensuing drive, however, and the WFT quarterback responded with an 11-play, 50 yard drive to put his team in field goal range.

Kicker Dustin Hopkins missed his first game-winning attempt, but got a second chance after Giants defensive end Dexter Lawrence was called for offside, and he nailed the 43-yard kick for the win at the buzzer.

Washington improved to 1-1, while New York dropped to 0-2.

"That pick at the end was kind of scary, but the defense gave us one more chance to get the ball and go down and score," Heinicke told JP Finlay of NBC Sports Washington. "[Hopkins] came up big. Full team effort, it was a great win."

Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported Fitzpatrick is expected to miss around eight weeks with his hip injury, so Heinicke should get an extended run to prove himself as the team's starter.

It'll represent the first extended opportunity to lead an offense for the 28-year-old Old Dominion product, who previously played for the Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, Houston Texans and Carolina Panthers before joining Washington last year. He made a spot start in last season's playoffs against the eventual Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers because of an injury to Alex Smith.

Heinicke and Washington face a tough test in Week 3 as they travel north to take on the Buffalo Bills.