Haskins after benching vs. Panthers: 'Hardest week of my life'

The Washington Football Team benched quarterback Dwayne Haskins after he struggled through three quarters in a critical loss to the Carolina Panthers.

Washington kicked off Sunday afternoon with a chance to clinch the NFC East but trailed 20-6 by the time Taylor Heinicke replaced Haskins in the fourth quarter. The club wound up falling 20-13, keeping the division race open.

Haskins has endured a tumultuous week during which the team stripped him of his captaincy for violating COVID-19 protocol after a video of him partying without a mask surfaced online.

He said postgame that he wishes he "could go back and change some things" and that this was "the hardest week of my life," according to the Washington Post's Nicki Jhabvala.

"You sign up for this job and it is what it is. Sometimes being human isn't enough," he added.

Haskins went 14 of 28 for 154 yards with two interceptions and a fumble against a Carolina team that had only one victory over its previous nine contests. He made his second straight start in place of Alex Smith, who tested his injured calf pregame but wasn't able to suit up.

Washington drafted Haskins with the 15th overall pick in 2019, but he's disappointed through two seasons. The Ohio State product opened his sophomore campaign as the starting quarterback but was benched after four starts.

Head coach Ron Rivera was tight-lipped postgame when asked which signal-caller he'll go with in Week 17 if Smith remains unavailable.

"We'll have to see," Rivera said, according to Jhabvala. "We'll have to see how Alex is doing and go from there."