Seahawks QB Sam Howell confident in ability to play consistent, smarter football if 'opportunity' arises

Sam Howell has joined Seattle as a backup, but he remains confident in his ability to fix what went wrong with Washington should the opportunity to take the field arise.

After starting all 17 games with a 4-13 record for the Commanders in 2023, the third-year pro found himself traded to the Seahawks, where he understands and accepts his upcoming role as QB2 behind Geno Smith despite thirsting to show improvement.

"Obviously Geno's still the guy and I'm gonna try to do everything I can to just come in and work and just try to get better," Howell said Wednesday on Brock and Salk, via Seattle Sports. "And it's got to be a good teammate and support Geno and do whatever I can to help the team win. But at the same time, always trying to compete and every single time I step out on the field, I'm always trying to show these guys what I can do and what I'm capable of."

Where the improvement needs to come is clear, and Howell's status as the full-season starter in Washington last year is somewhat misleading.

He was replaced and outplayed by Jacoby Brissett in back-to-back games in Week 15 and 16, then Brissett was actually named the team’s starting QB for Week 17 before suffering a hamstring injury in practice.

The issues for Howell arose from hero-ball tendencies, as the former fifth-round pick's 21 interceptions led the NFL by three. Rather than early on, while he was first adjusting to the speed of the game, the hiccups curiously took place largely down the stretch. After just one contest with multiple interceptions in his first 10 games of the season -- albeit the lone one was his biggest clunker overall, a four-INT embarrassment in Week 3 against the Bills -- Howell tossed an interception in each of his final seven games, four of