After starting only one NFL game in two seasons, Kevin Hogan made it clear by Friday night's performance that he was happy to take on every snap against the Baltimore Ravens to close out the preseason.
Throwing for 272 yards and three touchdowns to just two interceptions, Hogan made it known that he was going to take advantage of what may be his final opportunity to play in a Washington Redskins uniform during the team's 30-20 loss.
"It was fun being out there," Hogan said. "Making plays, leading the guys down the field, I felt like we did a lot of good things. It was fun being out there playing a full game again."
After an early score by the Ravens, the pressure was on for Hogan and the offense to respond quickly before things got out of hand. He did so, by marching the team 13 plays for 87 yards, before delivering a four-yard strike to veteran Brian Quick, who sprinted to the corner of the end-zone.
The reality of the night was that Hogan was stringing together drives with guys also trying to earn a spot on the 53-man roster. For the quarterback, the night was all about trying to subdue the pressure for himself and others.
"Yeah, it's definitely tough," he said. "We're all fighting, we're all, you know, trying to make plays and eliminate mistakes. But you can't really think about not making mistakes, you just got to go out and play hard. I was really proud with how everyone fought the whole game. Some things didn't go our way and we fought through it, and we were able to slowly make a comeback and that says a lot."
Despite some mid-game setbacks, Hogan was able to put together quality drives, distributing the ball to the likes of Simmie Cobbs Jr., Darvin Kidsy, Trey Quinn and Kapri Bibbs — as has been the case the entirety of the 2018 preseason. All three of his scoring drives went for at least 75 yards, which indicates that Hogan's confidence is mounting, and he can be trusted to consistently piece together long sequences.
"I felt more and more comfortable each day," Hogan said. "I feel like I've progressed very well, and that's what pre-season and camp is for. I get better each day, just building up to the season. I'm really happy with how the coaches have coached, it's something that's made sense to me. I'm able to work on it, and apply it and I feel like it's really helped me so I'm really thankful for them."
Hogan showed poise in the pocket for the majority of the game. He attributes a lot of that to his growth during this year's training camp, specifically, with his progressions.
"Early on, I might have only been getting to a first or second read in a progression, or third read," Hogan said. "To get through a whole progression, through four reads, find the back, and pick up first downs, get completions, and be efficient. That's something we work on, getting through a progression and being able to read the defense and find the open man, so I was proud of that."
During his postgame interview, Hogan was extremely adamant about being able to point to any guy in this receiving group and have confidence in that player making a clutch play. The reality is that this particular receiving group will never play together again; however, for Hogan, he was just glad that they left it all out on the field one last time.
"You know what? I played my heart out," the quarterback said. "I battled as hard as I could. [Roster decisions are] something that's out of my control, you know. I'll leave it up to the coaches and the organization to evaluate the film and me as a Redskin, teammate, and person that they want in an organization. I don't regret anything tonight, or any of the games this preseason. I feel like I got better each time, so I'm proud about being able to put my best foot forward."
