Quite an interesting statement from Ron Rivera on Friday, as he spoke to the media for the final time before the Commanders' finale – and perhaps his finale: he said he 'hasn't really been coaching until the last few weeks.'
Well, here's the exact quote, as heard in audio provided by JP Finlay, who was live in Ashburn for the final full practice of the year:
"I don't know if people will believe what I'm saying, but for 3 ½ years, I managed, and probably the last five weeks I've coached. Getting back and doing the defensive coordinator stuff has been fun, it really has. There are some really fond memories I'll have, and we'll see what happens. All I know is we play on Sunday, and I'm looking forward to us going out to play and see what happens. It's Dallas, how do you not get motivated?"
Ron also said that if he knew what his role was going to become, he may have approached things differently, but he was forced into a number of different roles because of Dan Snyder's ownership.
"A lot of that I do agree with, but it doesn't change that this was what you wanted, and you took the job with this in mind," JP said.
And, yeah, Brian Mitchell isn't buying any of it.
"That's the job you took on; you had coordinators, and you were going to be the quasi-GM and head coach, and you took on that job because everyone said you were a great guy and would be a culture changer," Brian said.
"You can't take it knowing all those things, and then at the end, say, well, I didn't know I was going to have to do all those things. You didn't just take a coaching job or a GM job, you took both, and from what I've heard, other stuff as well. I don't think anyone forced him into that, and it's hard for me to sit here now and say he was blindsided. I don't buy that, and I'm sure most of y'all don't, either. And I'll do one better what's the first object in football? To win, right? What's the record in the last five weeks? Just because you say something doesn't mean people are going to agree with you."
Take a listen to the entire conversation above, which bled into Friday's Ask BMitch Anything segment!
