Every coach preaches patience in a rebuilding year. But when losses mount, they suddenly go into short-term mode for quick wins.
Washington Football Team coach Ron Rivera joins the list of coaches that flat out don't want a 3-13 record on their resume. People might understand what happened at the time, but history will soon forget and their career record will be forever tainted by a -10 season.
Washington (2-6) travels to the Detroit Lions (3-5) on Sunday desperately needing to win to stay in the pathetic NFC East race. Oh, Washington is in second place behind Philadelphia (3-4-1), but other teams stinking isn’t enough to believe Washington can make the playoffs.
“Let’s be realistic—what’s the best record in our division?” Rivera pondered. “See my point? Keep your fingers crossed. You just never know. But at some point, you have to win football games. That’s the truth of the matter.”
So Rivera is breaking from his youth movement and starting 36-year-old Alex Smith, who relieved injured Kyle Allen in the loss to the New York Giants on Sunday. Smith becomes the third starting quarterback this season after Dwayne Haskins was benched and Allen suffered a season-ending ankle injury.
Related
If Rivera was committed to the youth movement, he’d return to Haskins. But, Rivera isn’t big on Haskins and Smith might be a more likely 2021 starter. So, experience takes over the huddle.
“I was hopeful that Dwayne would continue to learn and grow, which he is,” Rivera said this week. “But, right now, I chose to go a different direction with a guy {Allen] that’s very familiar with our system. But unfortunately, [Allen's] hurt. We have the ball in a veteran guy's [Smith's] hands, a guy that I saw who was working out very, very hard and was trying to come back... We'll see how it goes. Like I said, things may change depending on where we are as a football team and where we stand as a division. But for right now, we're still in the middle of it.”
Not that Rivera isn’t leading a roster revival that tempers the sting of 2-6. Maybe one season of seasoning will lead to paybacks next year.
"I don't get discouraged because when I look at the roster – and I can go over it with you right now – you can see how many young guys are playing," Rivera said. "Guys that have one, two, three years of NFL experience and that's it. I believe the number's right in between 25 to 28 players that we're playing that have first-, second- and third-year experience. That's important, why? Because going forward, those guys will have game experience, legitimate game experience, under their belt and that's going to make them better.
"I'm going to give you an example of a guy – look at Cam Sims. Look at what he's done. Look at Cole Holcomb. I can sit there and go down the list of the guys and tell you. There's a reason for optimism. At least I am. Maybe I'm overly-optimistic, but that's just how I feel."
That attitude would dictate playing Haskins, but Rivera knows Smith can win more games now. Youth movements are cool until seeing a 3-13 mark. That's why Smith will play. It's one thing to go young with a receiver or linebacker, but quarterback is the center of the team. Rivera obviously doesn't expect Haskins to improve enough to merit enduring losses.
Maybe that will change in the coming weeks when the season is obviously lost. For now, Washington is a little something old and new.
Rick Snider has covered Washington sports since 1978. Follow him on Twitter: @Snide_Remarks
Related
