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Sports Illustrated
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Mike McDaniel

Fans Were Floored by Ron Rivera’s Bizarre Quote About Eric Bieniemy’s Work Ethic

Training camp is well under way across the NFL, which means there’s no shortage of bizarre quotes and moments from the summer practices leading up to the season.

NFL fans were especially perplexed by news of new Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy being “too intense” in practices as he installs his playbook as a first-year OC in Washington.

Coach Ron Rivera addressed Bieniemy’s intensity and how his players have reacted to the practices in camp thus far.

“Yeah, they have,” Rivera said as he addressed whether or not players had struggled with the intensity. “And one of the biggest things is – I had a number of guys come to me and I said, ‘Hey, just go talk to him.’ I said, ‘Understand what he’s trying to get across to you.’ I think as they go and they talk and they listen to him, it’s been enlightening for a lot of these guys. I mean, it’s a whole different approach. Again, you’re getting a different kind of player from the players back in the past, especially in light of how things are coming out of college football. So a lot of these young guys, they do struggle with certain things and a lot of it…is from where they’ve been. I mean, guys coming from certain programs are used to it. Guys coming from other programs aren’t as much. So, us as a coach, I kind of have to assimilate and get a feel for everybody.

“Eric has an approach and it’s the way he does things and it’s not going to change because he believes in it. Jack [Del Rio] has his approach. Having been a head coach, I think Jack has a tendency to try to 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. Eric hasn’t had that experience yet.”

When Rivera was asked if the players thought Bieniemy was riding them too hard, Rivera was blunt in his response.

“Well, um, they just were a little concerned.”

OK.

The Commanders, who are overhauling the offense with a new offensive coordinator and new quarterback to try to compete in the NFC East, have players who believe a two-time Super Bowl winning offensive coordinator is riding them too hard.

NFL fans and media alike had plenty of thoughts on this, as one would imagine. Here are some of the best reactions from social media in light of the comments from Rivera:

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