Dwayne Haskins out for season with ankle injury

ASHBURN — Dwayne Haskins’ season is over.

The Redskins quarterback will miss the season finale in Dallas against the Cowboys after suffering a high ankle sprain in Sunday’s loss to the New York Giants, interim coach Bill Callahan said Monday. 

Haskins left the Giants game after a sack in the third quarter. He was not cleared to return and wore a medical boot on his left foot after the game. 

“I think it will take a couple weeks,” Callahan said, “but those things always change as the more evaluation and more information they get on it. it will take some time no matter what.”

Case Keenum, who played most of the second half against the Giants, is expected to get the start against the Cowboys.

With his year done, Haskins finished his rookie season with 1,365 yards, seven touchdowns and seven interceptions over nine games, seven of those starts. 

The No. 15 overall pick, Haskins made his first appearance of the season in a Week 4 loss to the Giants — but ultimately didn’t earn his first start until Week 9 against the Buffalo Bills. 

For the first few months of the 22-year-old’s career, the Redskins were cautious playing a quarterback who started only one year at Ohio State. Coaches cautioned that Haskins needed more time to learn the playbook and adjust to the NFL. 

But when Haskins finally got his chance, he improved rapidly from game to game. 

The Redskins were impressed with how the first-rounder commanded the huddle, was decisive with his throws and displayed composure in the pocket. 

Two of the Redskins’ three wins this season came with Haskins at quarterback. He played just well enough to engineer a fourth-quarter comeback in late November against the Detroit Lions and followed it up the next week with a win over the Carolina Panthers. 

Haskins’ accuracy, too, improved and on Sunday, he completed 12 of his 15 passes for 133 yards and two touchdowns before his injury. 

“Just in the last few weeks, he’s taken a great jump progressing through his reads a lot quicker and faster,” Callahan said. “His footwork and fundamentals have improved. Anytime you’re the starter, your attention to details rises to a certain level and it gets higher and it gets heightened and that’s what I felt about his play in the last few weeks and you can see that across the field, on tape, see it in the building. 

“Those are real positive traits going forward for him.”

There were moments, of course, when Haskins struggled. Beyond his need for time to adjust to calling plays in the huddle, the rookie was sacked 29 times — ranking 20th in the NFL, despite playing fewer games than a majority of the league’s starters.

Callahan said in the future, Haskins will have to do a better job of recognizing the incoming rush within the pocket in order to avoid defenders. If he does that, he’ll improve at making off-schedule throws from outside the pocket, Callahan said. “I think those are the types of things he’ll get better at,” he said. 

Haskins also experienced a few gaffes throughout the year — most of which can arguably be attributed to being a rookie. For example, Haskins missed the final play of his first win because he was taking a selfie with a fan, a blunder that prompted Callahan to call the moment a “learning experience.” 

On Sunday, Haskins caused a stir when he disclosed owner Dan Snyder instructed him to stay out for the rest of game — leaving the team to clarify Haskins had already been instructed by a doctor to not return. 

But overall, Washington saw encouraging progress from Haskins. 

The rookie may be disappointed his season is over prematurely — he had said he wanted to play in Dallas after Sunday’s loss — but he goes into the offseason on a promising note. 

“Anytime that you’re between the white lines and you’re seeing coverages live and defenders live and making the game-to-game adjustments and adaptations that you have to make at quarterback in the NFL, you’re going to get better and he certainly has proven that,” Callahan said. “He still has a long way to go, but there was a real, real positive in his development and in his growth.”