Washington Football Team head coach Ron Rivera addressed the media on Tuesday’s first day of training camp in Richmond. As expected, COVID-19 was a major topic of conversation.
Two weeks ago, an NFL report said that Washington was one of four NFL teams under 50% in its vaccination rate among players. Rivera noted on Tuesday the team was now over 50% and trending in the right direction.
While Rivera appeared happy the team was finally trending upward in vaccinations; he couldn’t help but share his disappointment as a whole.
“I’m truly frustrated,” Rivera said, per JP Finlay of NBC Sports Washington. “I’m beyond frustrated.”
Rivera, who battled cancer in his first season as Washington’s head coach, used his own personal situation in stressing why it was important for players to be vaccinated.
“Part of the reason I walk in with a mask on is I’m immune-deficient,” Rivera said. ‘So with this new (Delta) variant, who knows? So, when I’m in a group, and the group’s not vaccinated, or there’s a mixture, I put the mask on, and I do that for, you know, health reasons because nobody really knows. And, so I have to do that. And I just wish, and I hope that our guys can understand that.”
Here’s Ron Rivera, on why getting players vaccinated is personal to him. He said he’s ‘beyond frustrated’ at the team’s low rate.https://t.co/cl66EMcn4Z pic.twitter.com/8VdFO9COVo
— michael phillips (@michaelpRTD) July 27, 2021
The NFL announced new COVID-19 guidelines this month that will make it more difficult on non-vaccinated players. There will be no makeup games in 2021 for teams that COVID-19 outbreaks among unvaccinated players. That means a team could be forced to forfeit games if an outbreak occurs.
Rivera brought in a vaccine expert in the spring to talk to his players about the vaccine. His hope then was that it would increase vaccinations before the season.
Rivera announced on Tuesday that potential starting right tackle Cornelius Lucas would begin training camp on the reserve/COVID-19 list.
While Washington is trending upward, there is still plenty of work left to do. And the head coach was clearly frustrated on Tuesday.
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