Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera attempted to make a point about how the NFL is a quarterback-driven league. Unfortunately, with his team floundering in last place in the NFC East and on a four-game losing skid, the coach's full answer got lost amid a one-word answer.
Rivera was asked why he thought the Giants, Eagles, and Cowboys were further ahead of his team at this point. His answer was just one word, "Quarterback." And this is where Rivera failed, as what he was really trying to say was left unsaid at the time, and buried deeper in the conversation.
"I don't believe Ron Rivera was throwing Carson Wentz under the bus," Kevin Sheehan said on The Team 980 on Tuesday.
But Sheehan does understand why there was confusion and criticism of the head coach from former Washington quarterbacks Alex Smith and Robert Griffin III.
"Ron Rivera is not what you would call in the trade a smooth communicator," Sheehan said. "This isn't what he does well, there are lots of long answers, as we've gotten to understand over his two-plus years here. There are also some times when there are some very confusing answers from Ron where you're like, 'I'm pretty sure I think I know what he was trying to say, I just don't know if he said it.'"
Sheehan pointed out what Washington Post reporter Nicki Jhabvala tweeted: "The problem is Rivera's argument wasn't all that logical, so interpretation has been all over the place."
The argument Rivera was trying to make: Washington has not been able to go through an entire season and offseason cycle with a constant at quarterback. And in order to build a competitive consistent team, to complete the rebuild, Washington needs that period of stability. Wentz's play is irrelevant because he hasn't been with the team for long enough.
In the same press conference, Rivera was asked if he had regrets about trading for Wentz and he said no and later said "Now we have a guy that we think we have a chance to build around."
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And this storm in a teacup comes from Rivera speaking, Sheehan added, "It's not always smooth, it doesn't always make sense, but we've kinda gotten to the point where we kind of understand what he's trying to say."
But, "the problem with that," Sheehan said. "While I don't think he was trying to throw Carson Wentz under the bus, Carson Wentz ended up under the bus anyway.
"And that's where Ron Rivera has to improve in his communication abilities. He has to think some of these things out before he steps out there."
In the end, it was just another "headline-making item from a top to bottom losing organization," Sheehan said. "Nobody does losing quite like the Washington... whatevers. It's loud, it's confusing, it's usually, if not always, their fault."
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