Talk about a whirlwind week for Garrett Gilbert.
Last Friday morning, Gilbert was a practice squad quarterback for the New England Patriots, fourth on the depth chart behind Mac Jones, Brian Hoyer and Jarrett Stidham. Four days later, he was starting for the Washington Football Team in a game that had playoff implications in the NFC.
Washington signed Gilbert — who’d played for WFT head coach Ron Rivera in Carolina — as an emergency fill-in after QBs Taylor Heinicke and Kyle Allen both landed on the reserve/COVID-19 list. When Heinicke and Allen were unable to clear COVID protocols before Tuesday night’s rescheduled matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles, Gilbert was thrust into action.
The 30-year-old journeyman performed respectably for a player who’d met his teammates just days earlier, completing 20 of 31 passes for 194 yards and no touchdowns with no turnovers, but Washington squandered an early 10-point lead and lost 27-17 to its NFC East rivals.
Back in New England, Jones was happy to see his former position mate get his time in the spotlight.
“Garrett was a great help to me in the quarterback room,” Jones said Wednesday in a video conference. “He’s a great teammate. He played really well, and he got a chance to go out there and spin it around, so we’re all very happy for him. He was very nice to me and everybody in our quarterback room and provided a lot of great information.”
Gilbert has been around the NFL since 2014, but Tuesday’s game was just the second start of his career. The SMU product signed with the Patriots after roster cutdown in September and spent the last months on New England’s practice squad.
That actually was Gilbert’s second stint as a Patriots practice squadder. He also was with the team for its Super Bowl run in 2014, backing up Tom Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo.
Jones and the Patriots will look to rebound from their Saturday night loss to the Indianapolis Colts when they host the Buffalo Bills this Sunday at Gillette Stadium.
