CHICAGO — Washington Commanders trainer Ron Rivera strongly defended his position in obtaining quarterback Carson Wentz, then ended his information convention by way of strolling off the rostrum.
“I’m sorry, I’m done,” Rivera mentioned as he headed towards an go out door after Washington’s 12-7 win over the Chicago Bears on Thursday.
Rivera used to be fired up all the way through a lot of his information convention, disenchanted about positive consequences or what he known as undisciplined play. He additionally used to be animated about what his gamers have been during the previous 4 video games — all losses. But he stored his maximum heated feedback about Wentz.
In an ESPN tale Thursday, it used to be reported that proprietor Dan Snyder used to be the one that sought after Wentz. Washington traded for Wentz this previous iciness.
Rivera strongly denied that the landlord demanded they trade for Wentz. Rivera had compiled a record of analytics that confirmed Wentz’s effectiveness and had him on a record of desired quarterbacks to perhaps gain getting into the offseason. He has mentioned they discovered Wentz used to be to be had whilst on the scouting mix in Indianapolis ultimate iciness. The file additionally got here out two days after Rivera had responded “quarterback” when requested the variation between his rebuilding staff and the opposite 3 within the NFC East. Rivera later mentioned he intended that the ones groups had quarterbacks who have been with their groups longer.
“Everybody keeps saying I didn’t want anything to do with Carson, well, bulls—,” Rivera mentioned. “I’m the f—ing guy that pulled out the sheets of paper, looked at the analytics, watched the tape when we were at Indianapolis, OK? And that’s what pisses me off, ’cause the young man doesn’t deserve to have that all the time.”
He then ended the scoop convention.
Wentz later mentioned he used to be ignorant of the ESPN tale, however, he mentioned, he liked Rivera’s hobby.
“Coach Rivera, he’s awesome,” Wentz mentioned. “I’ve got a ton of respect for him, playing in this league for a while from afar, and getting to play for him is even better. He speaks his mind and he’ll be direct and to the point, and in this business that means a lot. Guys love that about him, and he’s going to be straight up and very motivational. Guys respond to him very well. I’m appreciative of him.”
For Rivera, it used to be over again when he had to respond to questions on off-the-field tales. The ESPN article detailed homeowners’ disdain for Snyder.
“I’m trying to get beyond all the stuff that’s on the outside as far as noise,” Rivera mentioned. “What I’m focusing on is the development of this team. I don’t want to get talking about something that I can’t control. I have no input, I have nothing to do with that; what I want to do is everything in that room. And that’s what I just wish we could stay focused on. It’s difficult, it’s hard, but for whatever reason, we’re going to stick to what’s interesting and that’s playing football.”
Rivera infrequently will get as animated in information meetings as he did Thursday, gesturing every now and then towards the locker room to emphasise his gamers.
“I’m going to speak my mind for a minute,” he mentioned. “For the last couple of weeks, honestly, it’s been hard, it really has, you lose four games in a row and everybody just wants to get on you. And they’ve played their asses off, they really have; they play their asses off for everybody. They come out and they show up, they work hard, all right? They don’t complain, OK? They hear all the stuff, and they’ve got to deal with it. I get that, and I respect them for that ’cause they’re resilient and they come back.”
Rivera additionally gained the sport ball from his gamers after successful for the primary time in Chicago as a trainer. He performed for the Bears from 1984 to 1992 and has mentioned how that formed his training profession. He mentioned he gained well-wishes by means of texts and emails from former teammates earlier than the sport.
“We all know what this place means to Coach Rivera,” Washington receiver Terry McLaurin mentioned. “A lot of the reason, the way he is today as a coach is because of his time spent here as a player, the connections he made. To come back and get a win in tough circumstances was big for our entire team.”