Ron Rivera’s first word this morning to the Junkies was “tired.”
After all, Coach Rivera was not able to get to bed until after 2:00 am, and had gotten up at 5:30 am to get his work-day started.
Jason Bishop was complimentary regarding offensive coordinator Scott Turner in how he is getting guys open in the passing scheme.
To which Rivera agreed and replied, “The biggest thing has been our running game; it has really opened up our play-action. Running the ball as well as we have has really been a spark for the success we are having.”
Eric Bickel expressed he is excited and that he really loves watching Taylor Heinicke play, calling him “a _______ gamer”.
Rivera responded that Heinicke is developing, the team took some lumps for a few weeks, but Rivera feels Heinicke is gaining in confidence and his teammates are also gaining confidence in Heinicke.
Rivera repeated his refrain from last week that the franchise QB might be on the roster, come in the draft, or free agency. He then added, “we would be crazy to not consider him. We need a guy to manage this team, we need a guy to make plays… as he grows and continues to grow, our football team is growing.”
Bishop brought up the Joey Slye injury and inquired how that impacted the game plan late with Washington leading 17-9 and driving. Rivera took responsibility stating there should have been some practice preparation with Tress Way kicking some field goals in case of an emergency.
Rivera also provided insight that when they were leaving the field at halftime, he told one of his staff, to get looking for a kicker, and “let’s see if we can get something done.”
John-Paul Flaim asked Rivera about his energetic post-game speech and John “Cakes” Auville questioned Rivera to explain about the white board in the locker room.
You can listen to the entire segment here.