The Washington Commanders began their three-day mandatory minicamp Tuesday, and head coach Ron Rivera spoke to reporters after practice.
As you might expect, Rivera discussed defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio. Rivera fined Del Rio $100,000 Friday for his comments earlier in the week, for which Del Rio had apologized.
Rivera made it clear why he fined his defensive coordinator.
This is not about the fact he exercised his right to free speech,” Rivera said per John Keim of ESPN. “This is about what impacted this football team. I believe in the First Amendment very strongly. It’s a very serious question and topic, but at the end of the day, it did impact us. That’s why I did what I did.”
Rivera said he spoke with Del Rio last week after his comments and again on Tuesday morning. He declined to share the details of those conversations.
Rivera said Del Rio met with the team Tuesday, and it was “well-received” by players.
“Jack spoke to the team this morning during the team meeting and was very open and contrite and apologized and was open to questions,” Rivera said. “He said, ‘Guys, if you have any questions, come see me, and let’s talk about that.’ It was good. I’m about reconciliation.”
In discussing Del Rio, Rivera said he had a copy of the First Amendment on his desk and read it several times again over the weekend and has a “tremendous amount of respect” for it, saying how with those freedoms comes “tremendous responsibility.”
The head coach certainly hopes the events of last week are now behind him and the team.