ASHBURN, Va. — Washington Commanders trainer Ron Rivera mentioned he had no regrets about buying and selling for quarterback Carson Wentz, adding that now they want to stay development round him.
Rivera mentioned the adaptation between his 1-4 Commanders and the remainder of the NFC East groups, who’re all 4-1 or higher, got here right down to quarterback.
“The truth is that this is a quarterback driven league,” Rivera mentioned. “And if you look at the teams that have been able to sustain success, they’ve been able to build it around a specific quarterback.”
Washington traded two draft choices within the offseason to procure Wentz, giving up a second-round select this previous draft and a conditional select in 2023 that might grow to be a moment in keeping with play time.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia (Jalen Hurts), New York (Daniel Jones) and Dallas (Dak Prescott) all entered the season with the similar beginning quarterback as 2021. Washington has began six quarterbacks in Rivera’s two-plus seasons. The Commanders are 15-21 below Rivera.
Rivera mentioned his level used to be that the opposite groups within the department all have constructed round their quarterbacks. Dallas, although, has gained 4 in a row with Cooper Rush beginning for the injured Prescott. Rivera mentioned Rush, who has been with Dallas since 2020, performs neatly inside what the Cowboys wish to run offensively.
The Giants, who went a mixed 10-23 the previous two years, have a brand new trainer in Brian Daboll and declined to pick out up Jones’ fifth-year possibility. They additionally had been broadly regarded as the worst group within the department getting into the season — and rallied to overcome Green Bay Sunday regardless of lacking its most sensible receivers.
The Eagles have long gone from 6-10 in 2020 to 9-8 ultimate season and 5-0 this 12 months. Hurts has been the full-time starter the previous two seasons.
Wentz hasn’t been the main reason why Washington has struggled. He threw 4 landing passes in a season-opening win vs. Jacksonville and threw 3 in the second one part the next week in a comeback that fell quick in Detroit.
Wentz is tied for 5th within the NFL with 10 landing passes, however tied for 1/3 with six interceptions. He ranks twenty fourth in general QBR at 38.0 — two spots forward of Denver’s Russell Wilson and 3 in entrance of Indianapolis’ Matt Ryan, two different veterans who modified groups this offseason.
“I’ve got no regrets about our quarterback,” Rivera mentioned. “I think our quarterback has done some good things. There’s been a couple games that he’s struggled, but the way he performed [Sunday] it just shows you what he’s capable of. We chose him because we believe in him. We chose him because we looked at what we felt were things that pointed toward him.”
Wentz threw for 359 yards and two touchdowns in Sunday’s 21-17 loss to the Tennessee Titans. Wentz threw an interception on third-and-goal from the 2-yard line with six seconds last.
“We’ve got a guy that we think we have a chance to build around,” Rivera mentioned. “We have a guy that is really growing in what we’re doing. I thought yesterday was a good indicator of his potential for us in this, and we’ll continue to work with it.”
Washington’s offensive line has been banged up. The Commanders have began 3 facilities and used to be lacking 60 p.c in their unique starters Sunday. They didn’t adequately change departed guards Ereck Flowers (reduce) and Brandon Scherff (loose agent).
But the Commanders do have a cast receiving corps with Terry McLaurin, Curtis Samuel and Jahan Dotson.
“We have some pretty good pieces in place,” Rivera mentioned. “I’d like to have them all on the field at the same time. We don’t, we can’t, so this is the lot we have, so we have to go out and play.”