Robert Griffin III thinks the Washington Commanders’ issues are more about Ron Rivera than Carson Wentz.
Rivera has been the subject of some criticism for a remark he made in his Monday press conference. Asked why other teams in the NFC East have been able to rebuild faster than Washington. He bluntly responded “quarterback”, later saying that other teams have had more time to build around their guy.
Wentz has not been a world-beater by any stretch, but the Commanders’ issues run well beyond just him. So in his weekly Tuesday appearance on “The Sports Junkies”, Griffin ripped Rivera for the comments.
“It’s unbelievable that he did that,” Griffin said. “That’s just not what good coaches do. When they ask you (that question), the answer is coaching, right? You take responsibility for that as a coach, it’s your job to take responsibility for your players’ failures and not take responsibility for their success. That’s just the mark of good coaching.
“The fact that he did that -- didn’t just drive the bus over him, then he doubled down on it, backed the bus back over him, and then came out and said well I didn’t mean it that way. Well it sounded that way.”
Griffin pointed out that the timing is odd since Wentz played largely well in Sunday’s loss to the Tennessee Titans, save for his late interception.
That said, he doesn't seem to think that should be the focal point of the discourse.
"It’s not necessarily about defending Carson Wentz," Griffin said. "It’s about understanding that Ron Rivera hasn’t won a playoff game since 2015, so why are you out there throwing your guy under the bus? How is that going to help him in the locker room the following day?
“And we all know I’m a guy that’s been thrown under the bus in the media by a coach before. But it has nothing to do with that for me, I had an opportunity to experience great coaching with John Harbaugh and he would have never done something like that to Lamar Jackson.”
Rivera said he has no regrets about bringing Wentz in, but clearly things are not going as well as anyone would like in Landover.
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