Thus far, the Washington Football Team has committed $10 million to Fitzpatrick for a hair over a quarter of football.
Thought that's through no fault of his own. Fitzpatrick went down early in the second quarter of Washington's Week 1 game against the Chargers with a hip subluxation and was later placed on Injured Reserve.
To put it lightly, Rivera has been reluctant to share any details in recent weeks about Fitzpatrick's recovery efforts, allowing only that he doesn't want to provide a timetable for the quarterback's return for fear of rushing him back before he's ready.
Rivera told reporters on Monday that Fitzpatrick is scheduled for another MRI next week and, "once we figure out what's happening there, we'll go from there." During his weekly appearance with The Sports Junkies, presented by F.H. Furr, Rivera was asked if fans will see Fitzpatrick on the field again at any point in 2021.
"Well, hopefully we'll find out next week when he gets the MRI and we'll go from there," Rivera told The Sports Junkies on Tuesday. "I mean right now, we're just kind of waiting to see how his recovery goes and what the MRI and doctors say."
"Is he throwing," asked John-Paul Flaim. "What is he doing?"
"He's doing the work that he's supposed to," Rivera replied.
"What does that mean," asked Flaim.
"Yeah. Is he throwing," Jason Bishop pressed.
"He's doing what he's supposed to do," Rivera said after a long pause. "Guys, again, I'm not with him when he's going through his rehab stuff. So he's just doing what he's supposed to do. I do know that he is in the weight room. I do know he does throw, but he's not throwing to receivers, but he's throwing inside the weight room. The doctors don't want him to go outside and take drops right now. That I can tell you. But I do know that he's thrown the ball in the weight room."
"He's throwing it 10 feet!" Bishop zinged.
As for current starter Taylor Heinicke, Rivera told reporters Monday he has no plans to make a change to backup Kyle Allen during the bye week. As of training camp, Allen was still easing back from the dislocated ankle he suffered midway through last season.
"A) Is he healthy enough right now to go 100 percent, if you wanted to go to him," Eric Bickel asked. "And, B) Why haven't you kicked the tires on a guy who last year looked pretty darn good when given the opportunity?"
"Well, just because we're trying to really find out about Taylor, too," Rivera said. "Again, there are some things that he does very, very well. I mean we move the ball extremely well between the 20s. And remember, and fortunately enough, you kind of helped set the table, he doesn't have all the weapons that we're hoping to have out there available.
"And so, as we get these guys back, as we get Logan [Thomas] back on the field, and we get Curtis [Samuel] on the field, and we get Dyami [Brown] on the field, and we get our right guard and our right tackle, we get [Sam] Cosmi and [Brandon] Scherff out there... and hopefully that happens this next week, and we're able to progress and go out and see what happens. Then we can really have a very good evaluation and really see."
"Guys, the goal is obviously to win. But it's also to make sure that the guys we have are the guys that we can win with, okay," Rivera continued. "Yeah, there is a time where I will draw a line in the sand with quarterback play if we don't get going. But, again, you can't constantly change, because if you do, you'll never know, you'll never find out.
"And at some point, you're gonna have to take your lumps. It's like when you were a kid back out in the day. You used to find out how tough you were — you'd get into a fight, and if every time you quit, you would never find out how tough you are. That's what we're trying to do. We're trying to find out if we have the right players. And if we're going to have to take some lumps, guess what? We're gonna take some lumps."
Rivera also says he won't be holding practice on Wednesday, a reversal from what he'd previously told reporters on Monday. Typically during a bye week, players are given several days off to recuperate and then return the following week for a normal week of preparation for the next game.
"Actually, because of the injury list – heh – we have too many guys hurt, and so, what we've done is we're actually gonna dismiss the guys today after they finish up with their last workout," Rivera told The Junkies on Tuesday. "So they've got meetings right now, they're in meetings. They'll finish up, they'll have a workout and then they'll be done."
"And then because, like I said, the injury list, we're gonna go ahead and send guys home, let them get out of here," he said. "Those guys that are fully tested will be able to do what they want to do. Those that aren't fully vaccinated will have to come in and test, per league rules."
