The day after Ron Rivera made national headlines for comments he said were misconstrued, the head coach apologized to quarterback Carson Wentz and the entire team Tuesday.
On his weekly Monday presser, Rivera was asked why Washington’s rebuilding process was coming along a lot slower than the rest of the NFC East, and the head coach gave a one-word response.
“Quarterback,” Rivera responded.
Rivera was then asked about the Cowboys, who’ve won four in a row with a backup quarterback.
” They started with [QB] Dak [Prescott],” Rivera said. “They build around Dak, and the offense is built around Dak. Their backup is a guy that is very solid inside of what they do. The truth is that this is a quarterback-driven league, and if you look at the teams that have been able to sustain success, they’ve been able to build it around a specific quarterback.”
Of course, the big highlight played on social media clips was when Rivera answered the initial question. It prompted many to criticize Rivera, including former Washington quarterback and current ESPN analyst Alex Smith.
Rivera opened his Tuesday meeting with the media by discussing his comments from Monday, taking full accountability for what he said and the distraction it caused.
“I do, but you know, at the end of the day, I spoke to my team this morning,” Rivera said. “I basically told them that I said some things that were misconstrued. I didn’t present it properly, and that’s on me. So I took accountability, told the guys that I should know better. Shit, I had a bad day. I figured, you know, I’m feeling better today; let’s move forward. So, to me, as far as I’m concerned, it’s really now about the most important thing that’s getting ready for football.”
He also mentioned specifically speaking to Wentz.
“Very much so,” Rivera answered when someone asked if he was worried about the comments becoming a distraction. “And that’s why I apologize to the guys. It’s been good. The players have been really positive about it, and Carson [Wentz] and I had a nice conversation. So I think we’re ready to roll.”
Rivera deserves credit for acknowledging his mistake. Regardless of how he meant it, the comments came across badly. In fairness, Rivera has defended Wentz at every turn, so he’s believable when he says he meant the comments were in reference to every other NFC East team having a quarterback in place and building around them.
Whether you agree with that or not is one thing, but if Wentz and Washington’s players are ready to move forward, so should everyone else.
