3 maddening Ron Rivera quotes after Commanders’ loss to Lions
By Jerry Trotta
The Washington Commanders suffered an embarrassing loss to the Detroit Lions Sunday in the Motor City. While the Commanders mounted a second half comeback, the 22-0 hole they dug themselves by halftime was too much to overcome, as the defense didn’t cooperate with the offense’s second half surge.
The best we can hope for is that Washington takes this loss as a learning experience and implements change to ensure it doesn’t happen again. They weren’t going to go undefeated and blew a gorgeous opportunity to start the year 2-0, but the sky is not falling by any means.
Beat the Eagles next week and everything changes.
After such a demoralizing loss, a head coach can do a lot in his/her postgame press conference to alleviate concerns and tranquilize an agitated fan base. Ron Rivera has done this countless times since he arrived in Washington, but Sunday was one to forget behind the microphone for the third-year head coach.
Sure, Rivera was probably more annoyed behind the scenes, but the lack of urgency and overall tone of his presser left a lot to be desired from a fan’s perspective so let’s highlight three quotes that confounded us beyond belief.
3 infuriating Ron Rivera quotes after the Commanders Week 2 loss
3. Jamin Davis is “running out of time”
Add Rivera to the list of Commanders coaches who’ve ridiculed Davis’ performance in the last week. After Jack Del Rio blasted the young linebacker for his showing against Jacksonville, Rivera came out and said the following about Davis:
"“Well, a little inconsistency,” Rivera said of Davis’ performance. “Again, as a young guy, he’s going to learn and grow but, hey, we’re running out of time as far as that’s concerned. We’ve got to go out and be consistent.”"
Rivera was as cryptic as we can remember after Sunday’s loss. Why was he so direct regarding Davis’ performance? We don’t doubt the 2021 first-round pick had some forgettable moments, but he’s one of a few players (Daron Payne being the other) whom we recall making an actual impact on defense.
The third-down sack of Jared Goff, a run stop near the goal line and sticking with D’Andre Swift on a pass to the end zone were just some of Davis’ standout moments.
What about William Jackson, Bobby McCain and Cole Holcomb? Can’t recall them doing anything helpful in the game. Kendall Fuller’s been inconsistent to start the year, too. Why is Davis the only defender being mentioned by name?
Extremely puzzling tactic from Rivera.