THE DROP-BACK: Thursday September 16 - taylor heinicke time

washington

With starter Ryan Fitzpatrick getting injured in the first week of the season, the Washington Football Team is handing the reins over to Taylor Heinicke, who some thought should have gotten a shot at the starting job, to begin with. (Don't yell at me, those people exist.) Heinicke did play quite well during last season's Wild Card loss, but not well enough to stop the team from signing Fitzpatrick. That train of thought doesn't stop Heinicke's thought process going into Week Two, however. "Something I've been dreaming about my entire life, being a starting quarterback in the NFL, and here we are. I really try and take it one day at a time, one meeting at a time, one play at a time. I feel like if I just live in the moment, everything else will take care of itself."

steelers

Good news for Pittsburgh Steelers fans: Ben Roethlisberger isn't hurt yet. After a year removed from elbow surgery, Roethlisberger was asked about any general soreness after Week One, and he said he was feeling pretty good. Which is kind of a shocker, not gonna lie.

Ben Roethlisberger on how he felt post-Week 1

"Sore. Like I anticipated. Getting hit for a while, got a lot more bumps and bruises than usual.

Elbow: "It feels great. Probably the only part of my body that felt good when I came out of the game. that's encouraging and positive."

— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) September 15, 2021

patriots

New England Patriots rookie quarterback Mac Jones may have lost his first game, but he's still getting a ton of praise from the team, including offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. McDaniels praised Jones' confidence and competitiveness, which is still there despite a loss. "I think he's a very competitive guy. He wants to win at everything that he's doing. He wants to perform his best every single day at every single rep."

titans

The Tennessee Titans didn't exactly start the season off the way they wanted to in Week One. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill credited the loss with the lack of response to the Arizona Cardinals. (Did Derrick Henry even play?) However, Tennessee will have to pick it up soon because they have the Seahawks this week.

Ryan Tannehill on yes the #Titans got punched in the mouth to start their opener and didn’t respond well: pic.twitter.com/thO8rrrXVD

— Teresa Walker (@TeresaMWalker) September 15, 2021

browns

The Cleveland Browns were able to keep up with the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday but lost in the end. Quarterback Baker Mayfield said (in a nutshell) that the team needs to pick themselves up and use this loss while preparing for Week Two and beyond. "We're going to be really good if we just do our jobs and continue to be efficient and move the chains and help out our defense by staying on the field. But this one needs to sting. You need to remember that, that all the little things matter, and that's how you need to approach this week of practice."

​chiefs

​Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes only seemed to target a few receivers in Week One's game, which led people to wonder (for real) if he has something against his other receivers. This is a total Week One reaction if I've seen one. Mahomes says that's not the case. "I have full confidence in everybody who's on that football field. I mean, we have guys that can make plays everywhere. This last week, Trav and Tyreek made the plays. But I'm sure that throughout the entire season — and what we've seen in our past — is that we have guys like Mecole Hardman, Demarcus Robinson, and Byron Pringle who can make the big play happen at any moment. I have full confidence in that."

- other notes -

• Patrick Mahomes was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week.
• Matthew Stafford takes the NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors.