Taylor Heinicke helped the Washington Commanders hand the Philadelphia Eagles their first loss of the season and will get another chance to keep that momentum rolling.

Head coach Ron Rivera told reporters Heinicke will start at quarterback for Sunday's game against the Houston Texans. While Carson Wentz was cleared to throw, he has not yet been designated to return to practice from a broken finger.

Rivera said Wentz will need to practice at some point before he would be the backup, adding the team will "see how it goes" before determining whether the veteran will be behind Heinicke on the depth chart against the Texans.

Even if Wentz were healthy, it's hard to argue with the decision to go with the other option.

Heinicke is 3-1 as a starter this year and has helped Washington climb back into the playoff picture following an ugly 2-4 start. He has completed 62.0 percent of his passes for 840 yards, five touchdowns and four interceptions while adding another 60 yards and a score on the ground.

While the turnovers are something of a concern, he has made a number of important and timely throws when games have been hanging in the balance and has a clear chemistry with No. 1 wide receiver Terry McLaurin.

McLaurin posted eight catches for 128 yards in Monday's win over the Eagles as the only Commanders player with more than three catches.

Turnovers have long been a problem for Wentz as well, who threw six interceptions in the first six games and led the league with 15 picks in just 12 games in 2020. Washington dug itself a hole in the early going of the season with the North Dakota State product under center and is just starting to climb out of it with Heinicke.

If the latter can earn another win against the Texans, it stands to reason that he will remain under center as the team looks to seize a wild-card spot in the NFC.