Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera said something on Tuesday he knew he’d probably like to have back. In discussing new offensive coordinator/assistant head coach Eric Bieniemy, Rivera said some players “were a little concerned” with Bieniemy’s intensity.
The comments created a firestorm, leading many to ask if Washington players were soft and others to question why Rivera would even say that.
On Wednesday, Rivera spoke to reporters before training camp practice and offered some clarification on his comments, saying he talked to Bieniemy and acknowledged he put his foot in his mouth.
“I basically told him I put my foot in my mouth,” Rivera said via Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post. “I think what I said wasn’t as clear as I needed to be. I think the understanding of it is just the fact that I think everybody’s making, in my opinion, a little bit more than needs to be made of this.”
Rivera is right. People are making a bit too much of his comments. Rivera noted on Tuesday that if players had any questions or concerns that they should speak to Bieniemy directly, and some had and were enlightened by their discussion with Bieniemy.
Another comment Rivera addressed Wednesday was his comparison of Bieniemy to defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio.
“Eric has an approach, and it’s the way he does things, and he’s not going to change because he believes in it,” Rivera said Tuesday. “Jack has his approach; having been a head coach, I think Jack has a tendency to try and figure guys out a little bit more as opposed to, hey, this is it, this is the way it’s going to be that type of stuff. Where Eric hasn’t had that experience yet.”
On Wednesday, he offered further explanation.
“I was just trying to convey that we all have our own way of doing things,” Rivera said Wednesday, per John Keim of ESPN. “Neither one is better than the other. I had Buddy Ryan riding me for two years. I had Mike Ditka riding me for nine. It’s the way they did things. Their approach is different than mine. We all have our own ways.”
While Rivera shouldn’t have gone into detail in his answers regarding Bieniemy on Tuesday, this was likely much ado about nothing.
Now, Rivera, Bieniemy and Washington players can focus on Friday’s preseason opener against the Cleveland Browns.