Ron Rivera put his own offensive coordinator, Eric Bieniemy, under fire earlier this week when he mentioned that some of the Washington Commanders players were “concerned” with Bieniemy’s intense approach to practice.
Never mind that Bieniemy comes from a championship organization (the Kansas City Chiefs) that has won more playoff games (11) in the last five years than the Commanders have in over three decades — why on earth would Rivera feel compelled to highlight that his players were apparently having trouble adjusting to Bieniemy’s coaching style?
Rivera decided to clarify on Wednesday. Now, you might think he would’ve said something from the heart, talking about what a pleasure it is to work with a brilliant offensive mind with a pedigree like Bieniemy. No one would’ve batted an eyelash, and this conversation would’ve likely been put to bed then and there.
Instead, Rivera spouted off some empty platitudes of Bieniemy endorsements from a full sheet of paper positioned in front of his microphone.
What’s that all about?
Ron Rivera opened his press conference with a statement to clarify his comments yesterday. pic.twitter.com/ojVERwXo1j
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) August 9, 2023
We have so many questions: Was it really that controversial that he had to read from a written statement? Shouldn’t Rivera speak from the heart here?
So weird. Twitter agreed: