Ron Rivera demanding energy at Washington Football Team practice
By Ian Cummings
For a long time, it seems, the Washington Football Team has not practiced up to the standard set by the rest of the league.
The lax practices of Jay Gruden became commonplace for the Washington Football Team earlier in the decade. Gruden was often labeled as a “player’s coach” by pundits to mask the deficiencies of his style (Yours truly regrettably engaged in that act), but the team’s lack of discipline became all too apparent when the regular season rolled around.
That lack of discipline has festered over the years, and even with an overhaul of the coaching staff and the majority of the roster, it wasn’t going to go away in one day. Head coach Ron Rivera was reportedly not happy with the way the team ended practice this morning, and he “lit into his team”, as reported by Sam Fortier, emphasizing the need for heightened urgency and consistency.
Ron Rivera lit into his team after practice. He told everyone to look at Adrian Peterson and Thomas Davis bc they know what it takes.
— Sam Fortier (@Sam4TR) August 22, 2020
“That’s what we’re not doing, is practicing it the right way every f——— time. ... I can’t accept the way we practice, I’ll tell you that much.”
Later reports suggested that the defense bested the offense for another day in training camp, but after practice, Rivera reportedly gathered his players and delivered an impassioned demand for young players to take advantage of the opportunity at their disposal. J.P. Finlay said that it was the most intense he’d ever seen Rivera thus far.
ESPN’s John Keim expanded on the event, saying that while the team performed well for the first three-fourths of practice, a sloppy and unorganized finish led to Rivera’s outburst. Per Keim, Rivera said that if the team wants to be consistent through a three-hour game, they have to uphold that standard in a two-hour practice. The team has to practice the way they play, and if they don’t, then that practice time may not help toward finding success.
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It’s hard to get a read on how Rivera’s tenure is going thus far, but it’s certainly been eventful. Earlier in the offseason, Rivera had to deal with many off-field issues and discussions surrounding non-football aspects of the team, and now, he’s at the start of a fight with lymph node cancer. Nothing has been easy for Rivera, and he’s making clear to the Washington Football Team that progress won’t be easy for them either.