Washington Commanders coach Ron Rivera is a believer in new Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Pederson and thinks he’ll whip the franchise into shape in a hurry.
Ahead of a Week 1 matchup between the Commanders and Jaguars, Rivera had nothing but praise for his former NFC East rival.
“First of all, I know they’re really well coached,” Rivera said of the Jaguars during a press conference Monday. “I’ve had the opportunity to be around Doug and I know who Doug is. Doug’s got a tremendous résumé, not just as a coach, but as a player, and he’s had a great deal of success. So they’re going to be coached differently, their outlook and approach will be different. They’ll be doing what we were doing a couple years ago in trying to get away from who they’ve been.
“It’ll be interesting to watch, it really will. I’m excited about this week just because knowing who Doug is, I think this is going to be a much better team than people give them credit for.”
Pederson, 54, spent five seasons as the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, leading the team to a win in Super Bowl LII before he was fired three year later after a 4-11-1 season in 2020.
Rivera took over in Washington in 2020 and led the team to 7-9 finishes in each of his first two seasons at the helm.