Washington coach says Dwayne Haskins “impressive” in practice

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Whether he’s ready or not, Washington quarterback Dwayne Haskins may end up starting this week.

And whether or not they actually believe it, his coaches are saying all the right things about the rookie’s work.

Via Les Carpenter of the Washington Post, interim coach Bill Callahan praised Haskins’ work in practice, while starter Case Keenum remains in the concussion protocol.

“The ball wasn’t even on the floor the entirety of the day, which was really impressive,” Callahan said, which sets a pretty low bar for a guy whose command of the playbook has been questioned — unless it hasn’t.

If Keenum isn’t cleared by the weekend, Haskins will make his first start at Buffalo.

Callahan has said that Keenum will start when healthy, but he praised Haskins for his “tempo” and said that he “took command of the offense.”

“I just think we started a course at the beginning of the year philosophically and we have held true to that course and we will maintain that,” Callahan said. “I really believe Case earned the starting quarterback position, he was voted captain by his teammates. . . .

“We’re not confusing the issue here, Case is our starter and if he is healthy and ready he will be going forward.”

But the issue of Haskins’ readiness will remain as long as the journeyman Keenum is ahead of him, until he gets on the field and proves it one way or another.