Ron Rivera told the media this week that some players had some concerns about Eric Bieniemy’s coaching style, which led him to direct them to EB to discuss them and have “enlightening” discussions.
When Pro Football Focus’ Trevor Sikkema joined the Sports Junkies Tuesday, he revealed that this is a “new” criticism of Bieniemy, at least publicly, but nothing alarming, per se.
“I did not hear anything like that in Kansas City, but you have to look at what has been going on there – you have two commanding alphas in Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes, so who knows if that would have ever come out,” Sikkema said. “Reid is so good at managing players and coaches that stuff like that would never come out. I don’t know if Bieniemy is changing the way he’s coaching; maybe he feels he has to be more assertive in making his mark? I don’t think he’s blind to the fact that this is a big opportunity for him, as well, in his quest to be a head coach, to see what he can do outside of Kansas City, so maybe that intensity is coming out and he’s being a little more assertive.”
Normal growing pains, Sikkema says.
“These are kind of normal things, so I wouldn’t freak out too much. It’s a new coach going to a new team with new players, and they’re all realizing how to work with one another and get the best out of their relationship,” Sikkema said. “It’s an interesting note, but I wouldn’t freak out, because like any relationship, you learn communication skills in the early phases that hopefully blossom into something very successful moving forward.”
One of EB’s new players is quarterback Sam Howell, the biggest question mark on the team – and in Sikkema’s eyes, we’ve seen the flashes, now it’s time to see if Howell can put it all together.
“My concerns right now are just that we haven’t really seen him, and when you go back to his UNC tape, it was so night and day what he was asked to do as a freshman and sophomore versus what he had to do as a junior,” Sikkema said. “It was two totally different offenses, so you’ve seen some showcase abilities but he hasn’t put both phases together. There is plenty of ability, and they have a roster where they can make the most of his passing ability. There are pieces there to get the most out of what we saw, and I hope he gets that QB1 spot because I want to see what he’s made of, and which version of Sam Howell we get right off the bat.”
Take a listen to Sikkema’s entire call-in above, which includes thoughts on who from last year’s NFC playoff picture could stumble (and allow a surging Commanders team to sneak into the postseason), the market for remaining big-name running backs, and more!
Follow The Sports Junkies on Twitter: @moneymetalcakes, @ebjunkies, @lurchbish, @glassjoejp, @drabtshirt, & @JunksRadio
Keep up with 106.7 The Fan via:
Audacy App | Online Stream | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Keep up with 980 The Team via:
Audacy App | Online Stream | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram