Ron Rivera Presser: Jamin Davis is going through the legal process and we’ve got to be supportive of him

Ron Rivera speaks to the media after today’s practice

The Washington Commanders had off on Sunday, but resumed their training camp practices today. Jamin Davis missed practice today while appealing a reckless driving conviction from last year that could lead to jail time. Rivera said he is going through the legal process and the team supports him.

Emotions when drafting QB Sam Howell:

They were kind of mixed because that was kind of the thought is that it would be great if he was here. Each time we got to a round, we talked about what the needs were, and Sam was always in that conversation. So, when we got to the fifth round, we had two picks. We just made a trade to give us two picks in the fifth, we went ahead and pulled the trigger with the first of the two.

Managing several defensive ends in the final year of their contracts:

Well, I will tell you, they’ve done a great job, both of them. I think when you look at both guys coming back and their situational circumstances, so far it’s what we’ve been hoping for. I mean, Chase looks solid. He looks good. Looks in form already. Montez seems to be picking up right where he left off. Both guys are in a really good place for us.

Conversations about their contracts:

Well, I mean we will get to a certain point obviously when those conversations could occur. But right now as we’re still kind of feeling our way through, especially with new ownership, those are all conversations that are still a work in progress in terms of bringing them up to speed where we are, bringing them up to speed as to what our desires are going forward. That’s probably the biggest thing that we still are working through. That will be one conversation after the other, after the other. Everything from meeting in person to phone calls, zoom calls, so they understand what our plan is going forward and so we know what their feelings are on the subjects.

Being conservative with Chase Young’s return from his ACL injury last season:

Very, very, very tough. I mean we wanted to get him out there as soon as we could, you know. It was almost kind of a pie in the sky that he would be who he is. I mean, the truth of the matter is when the guy goes through an ACL, very few guys can do what Adrian Peterson did. So it’s just going to be a matter of time. He had to work through those things, but we were hoping he would get back soon, but it just didn’t work and that’s all part of it.

Chris Paul working with the starters:

Who he gets to work against. Just having him get the opportunity to work against Jonathan, work against Daron. That’s important for his growth and development as a football player for us. He’s one of the young guys coupled with Sam and Saahdiq that we’re going to count on to be part of that interior for us. And so we want to make sure he gets some work with the ones. That was one of the things that we do. We do it consciously. We’ve done it every year that we’ve been together. And so we’ll continue to do that where specific guys that we know are going to get opportunities to play or that may have to play, we’ve got to get them work now. We’re going to mix a few more guys in in the next few days as well.

Maturity in the defense:

To say it’s only on the field or out in public, no, it’s when you watch them do the little things. The little things that are important. It’s when they’re in meetings, when they’re in walkthrough and when they’re in in practice. It’s like watching some of the guys right now.

Once practice is done and coach is done, you’re done, but a couple guys want to go out and they work with each other. They talk about some of the calls and some of the techniques they can use. They work on catching the balls. These are things that are going above and beyond what we expect from them.

As I walk through and I see seven, eight, nine, 10 guys still out there working together, on their own, without coaches around them, that’s impressive. That’s what you want from your guys and they’re doing it on a voluntary basis because they think they need to work together and continue to do that. That to me is just showing maturity.

Players adjusting to Eric Bieniemy’s offense:

Fan support:

What has surprised him so far:

I think first foremost, I’m very pleased and pleasantly surprised of the way we’ve had the fans embrace us. I really do appreciate that. Secondly, I love the way the players have reacted to it. I think they recognize and realize just how important it is to go out there and be your best for these folks. I think that’s been big.

The next thing on the offensive side has been the retention. Eric has thrown a lot at them and I think the guys have responded and handled it for the most part pretty well. There are some mistakes that do need to be cleared up and cleaned up . Next thing is I really do appreciate defensively, the way the guys have handled some of the tweaks and adjustments that Jack and them have put in. They’ve handled those very well.

And then the whole team aspect of it, our defensive guys know our offensive guys are going through a lot right now. They’re trying to learn and adapt to a new system and style. You see these guys talking to each other. You see the defensive guys explaining certain things to our offensive guys when something happens in practice. You hear them inside talk about those things, offensively and defensively together.

Like I said, there’s some maturity out here and I’m really excited about that. I think that’s all part of the growth process that we’ve had to go through in what is going to be our fourth season now is that we’ve got to take steps. We’ve got to take certain kinds of steps and maturity has always been one of the things that I did talk about. I do think it is important for our guys.

Pads on tomorrow:

I think part of it is now is how the intensity will wrap up and how things will speed up. It’s really just about adapting to that as quick as possible. There’s a certain nature that you have to have about you when you step onto the field. A certain grit and toughness that has to be developed through practicing and pads. We’re going to try and do it very smart, very diligently. We’ll go two days in pads, we’ll back off the guys for a day, go out there in shells again, and then come back in pads for a fourth practice this week. They’ll have their day off, but the idea is that we’ve got to work through this and we’ve got to develop that grit that you’re going to need to play when you’re in pads. I’m looking forward to the continued growing and maturing as a football team.

Jamin Davis: