Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera raised eyebrows with his comment about defensive end Montez Sweat after the team’s preseason loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday.
Rivera was asked about his team’s performance Saturday and focused on one play in particular; a touchdown pass from Patrick Mahomes to Jody Fortson to give the Chiefs a 14-0 lead.
“I think there were some mistakes out there obviously we need to get corrected,” Rivera said. “We can’t have that. We have one guy coming off the edge, and we have someone else that is not setting the edge, so the quarterback steps aside. The touchdown pass was a great example, and that was the big disappointment, you know the second touchdown pass that (Patrick) Mahomes threw. We had great pressure coming off the back side, and the defensive end gets upfield and doesn’t get to his level and washes up and over.”
The final part of Rivera’s quote is where he mentioned Sweat.
“Montez was coming off the backside and you have to stick to the process,” Rivera answered. “You have to do your job.”
Some probably took the comment to mean more than it actually did. Rivera was frustrated by one play and the defensive ends (Sweat and Casey Toohill) on the play. He wasn’t personally calling Sweat out.
On Monday, Rivera’s presser opened with someone asking him if he was frustrated with the defensive line. Obviously, Rivera has since watched the replay of the game and gave a thoughtful answer.
“Well, I won’t say overall play,” Rivera said of his defensive line. “I’d say if there’s one thing that is concerned, it’s the pass rush. We have to be disciplined, you know, and we have to understand what our role is. You know, if we have a specific call on you’re the edge guy, set the edge, don’t give up the edge and, and that’s probably the biggest thing that when you look at the tape, you see it, and that’s the thing that frustrates and disappointing. We have to understand who we’re playing against.”
The Commanders are far too talented up front not to be able to rush opposing passers. Sometimes, it’s not about physically beating the man in front of you but countering the opponent when they counter your initial move.
A common theme for Washington’s defense last season was the lack of pass-rush production from the defensive ends. Rivera and his coaching staff are doing everything possible to ensure the group doesn’t underachieve in 2022.
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