The Washington football team said it was aware of photos on social media showing quarterback Dwayne Haskins at a strip club on Sunday night while not wearing a mask and that the team would take care of it internally.
Haskins apologized on Twitter, saying he spoke with coach Ron Rivera on Monday and “took full responsibility for endangering the team. She was irresponsible and immature and I accept responsibility for my actions.” He also apologized to his teammates for “creating a distraction while pushing our playoffs.”
Haskins later set up his private Twitter account.
The team said it brought to the league’s Instagram image, which was taken hours after Haskins started Washington’s 20-15 loss to Seattle. Managing the problem internally means Haskins will be fined because it was earlier this season when he violated COVID-19 protocols by making reservations for a family friend to stay at the team’s hotel the night before a road game against New York Giants.
The violation was caught before the person arrived, but Haskins was still fined $ 4,833.
It’s not clear what that means for Haskins when Washington hosts the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. A source said that the team is optimistic that defender Alex Smith will return after missing a game with his right leg muscle tense. Smith was injured in a Dec. 13 victory over San Francisco, prompting him to miss the loss to Seattle.
Rivera wants to prevent Haskins’ story from overshadowing what’s at stake for the team: a chance to reach NFC East. Washington (6-8) can win the division if its team beats the Panthers and the Giants lose to the Baltimore Ravens.
On Monday, before the image came to light, Rivera said about maintaining protocols: “This will be something we will definitely talk about as we deal with this. Where we are right now at the end of the season, it went so good. Let’s continue to focus on staying safe and healthy. We hope we can keep that going and keep going. We’ll definitely talk about that. “
Washington have not lost any players in their active roster in the reserve list / COVID-19 this season.
The latest situation with Haskins will cause the team to look hard in the off-season in terms of its future with the organization. Washington chose him as the 15th pick in the 2019 draft, a move led by owner Dan Snyder and not scouts or coaching staff. Rivera’s staff inherited Haskins, and several sources said they felt they could do so by provoking him.
With no pre-season games, Rivera decided to give Haskins all the first team representatives during the training camp to fully prepare him for the season. Rivera named Haskins as headliner in late August. Rivera said at the time that if it had been a normal off-season, he would have made Haskins compete with Kyle Allen for the job. At the time, they weren’t sure what Smith could do after missing the previous season due to a broken leg and strongly considered placing him in the injured reserve.
Haskins was overtaken after four games because several sources said they want to be better prepared for him during the week, among other things, and take a more mature approach. He was demoted to the third string for four weeks, but became the no. 2 after Allen suffered a foot injury on November 9.