When Washington head coach Ron Rivera was the head coach of the Carolina Panthers, he knew what he had at quarterback. Cam Newton came to Carolina at the same as Rivera in 2011, and the two were joined at the hip for the next decade.
In his second year with Washington, Rivera will be facing Newton and the New England Patriots in the preseason opener on Thursday.
Starting at quarterback for the Football Team is veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick. This will be Rivera’s first game with Fitzpatrick as his quarterback.
So, what is the head the coach looking for from his quarterback in his first preseason action?
“Is he going through the checks, the processes he needs to?” Rivera said Tuesday, per Sam Fortier of The Washington Post.
“When I’m done, I’m going to take a look and see what the playbook tells us, whether or not we spread the ball around properly and we used all of our assets out there.”
Essentially, what Rivera wants to see is Fitzpatrick’s command of the offense. He doesn’t expect Fitzpatrick to be perfect immediately but handle the basics of the offense in his first start.
A trip to New England is a good test for Washington’s retooled offense.