Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera opened his Wednesday press conference with a prepared statement one day after saying some players were a “little concerned” with the intensity of offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.
“I realize my comments yesterday took on a different life than I intended yesterday,” Rivera said. “And that’s on me for not being as clear as I needed to be. I’ll own that.
Head coach Ron Rivera of the Washington Commanders looks on during training camp at OrthoVirginia Training Center on July 28, 2022, in Ashburn, Virginia. (Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
“At the end of the day, we know that we’re trying to build here and we’re all aligned. As I’ve said many times since I hired Eric, I love the overall message that he gave to the team his first day. And that was basically, we gotta learn to be comfortable when we’re uncomfortable. And I think what’s happened is, for guys that are on that side of the ball, things are uncomfortable. There’s been a lot of change.”
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On Tuesday, Rivera said he encouraged players to go talk with Bieniemy in order to “understand what he’s trying to get across to you.”
“Change is hard, and I’ve always encouraged our players to have great dialogue and build relationships with our staff,” Rivera continued on Wednesday. “Since those conversations took place with Eric and the players, I’ve seen the improvement. And I can honestly say that the last couple of practices probably have been the best of training camp. Which I think is great. To me, that displays a team that’s beginning to embrace the message and approach to how he does things and how we want things done.”
Assistant head coach and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy reacts during the Washington Commanders’ training camp at OrthoVirginia Training Center on July 28, 2022, in Ashburn, Virginia. (Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
Rivera said he spoke with Bieniemy regarding his Tuesday comments.
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“I basically told him I put my foot in my mouth,” Rivera said, according to The Washington Post. “I think what I said wasn’t as clear as I needed to be. I think the understanding of it is just the fact that I think everybody’s making, in my opinion, a little bit more than needs to be made of this.”
Bieniemy was hired by Washington in February after helping orchestrate the offense in Kansas City to two Super Bowls in five years.
Offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy of the Kansas City Chiefs looks on during a game against the Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High on Jan. 8, 2022, in Denver. (Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
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The Commanders’ offense has struggled since Rivera took charge in 2020, failing to finish better than 20th in the league in his three years as head coach.
“They’ve got to understand we’re in a grown man’s business,” Bieniemy said Tuesday, according to ESPN. “My job is to make sure I do the best job of overcommunicating clearly. When I’m getting on them, it’s not personal. What’s personal is I want us to win. I expect that particular player to be great at all times. I expect that effort to be a standard that’s accepted by all of us. If they don’t reach it, my job is to address it.”
