Former Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera sat down with ESPN's John Keim this past week, to speak publicly for the first time since Josh Harris fired him after four seasons in Washington. During the interview, the former HC said he still believes in Sam Howell, but that he made a mistake in letting it be known early in the 2023 offseason that Howell would be the starter heading into the season.
"I took a big gamble," Rivera told Keim. "I put a lot on Sam, and I probably shouldn't have put as much pressure on him... He's a good young quarterback, has some talent and some ability, and I think that's something I should have backed off on.
"I should have kept emphasizing he was going to be the guy that got the first opportunity. ... Just phrasing it that way would've taken a lot of pressure off of him, just kind of that he hadn't been anointed."
First, Craig Hoffman and Lynnell Willingham discuss their biggest takeaways from the article, with Willingham reading between the lines on Rivera's comments to come to the conclusion that Commanders assistant head coach and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy was forced to work with Howell.
Willingham goes on to say he believes that the offense would have run better if veteran Jacoby Brissett was the signal caller instead: “I don’t think [Bieniemy] ever wanted to go with Sam Howell.”
Listen to the full conversation and Hoffman's take on the audio player above!
