Commanders TE Logan Thomas makes it clear he wants Taylor Heinicke back in 2023
Logan Thomas will enter his fourth season in 2023 as the Washington Commanders starting tight end. In all likelihood, Thomas will be catching passes from a different quarterback in Week 1 for the fourth consecutive season.
In four seasons, Thomas has had eight starting quarterbacks for the Commanders. Alex Smith, Kyle Allen, Dwayne Haskins, Taylor Heinicke, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Garrett Gilbert, Carson Wentz and Sam Howell have all started at least one game for Washington over the past three seasons.
A former college quarterback, Thomas returned from a Dec. 2021 ACL injury to appear in 14 games last season. He caught 39 passes for 323 yards and one touchdown.
Last week, Thomas met with the media on locker cleanout day and was asked about Washington’s revolving quarterback door.
“Can’t be hard anymore if you’ve done it a bunch of times, right?” Thomas said while laughing.
He went on to discuss Howell, Heincke, or perhaps someone from the outside being Washington’s quarterback in 2023 and said the Commanders would be fine.
Thomas is known to be close friends with Heinicke, who happens to be a free agent this offseason. A reporter asked Thomas if he wanted Heinicke back next season.
“Damn right I do,” Thomas said with a smile. “Man, that’s my dawg. First and foremost, my best friend but [also] an incredible teammate. And a very good football player, as well.”
What makes Heinicke such a terrific teammate?
“I don’t think I have to say it; I think y’all have been around here enough to turn around and look and see how he interacts with everybody,” Thomas said. “To see how he gets along with people, just the smile that he brings to people’s faces. Watch the person that he’s talking to, and watch their face, and you’ll see how much they’re smiling and laughing. I think that’s a sign of who he is.”
After the Commanders fired offensive coordinator Scott Turner last week, they’re reportedly telling other teams that Howell will have every opportunity to win the starting job in 2023.
The biggest question is will it be Heinicke mentoring and pushing him?
If you’d ask every player on the team, including Howell, they’d likely all admit to wanting Heinicke to return in some form.
Logan Thomas on recent comments from his wife expressing frustration with #Commanders red zone offense, love for Heinicke, and possibility of 4th diff wk 1 starting QB in his 4th year: "Can't be hard anymore if you've done it a bunch of times"#HTTC @nbcwashington @JPFinlayNBCS pic.twitter.com/jEzIaut7Ff
— NBC4 Sports (@NBC4Sports) January 9, 2023
