Ron Rivera put his own offensive coordinator, Eric Bieniemy, under fire earlier this week when he mentioned that some of the Washington Commanders players were “concerned” with Bieniemy’s intense approach to practice.
Never mind that Bieniemy comes from a championship organization (the Kansas City Chiefs) that has won more playoff games (11) in the last five years than the Commanders have in over three decades — why on earth would Rivera feel compelled to highlight that his players were apparently having trouble adjusting to Bieniemy’s coaching style?
Rivera decided to clarify on Wednesday. Now, you might think he would’ve said something from the heart, talking about what a pleasure it is to work with a brilliant offensive mind with a pedigree like Bieniemy. No one would’ve batted an eyelash, and this conversation would’ve likely been put to bed then and there.
Instead, Rivera spouted off some empty platitudes of Bieniemy endorsements from a full sheet of paper positioned in front of his microphone.
What’s that all about?
Ron Rivera opened his press conference with a statement to clarify his comments yesterday. pic.twitter.com/ojVERwXo1j
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) August 9, 2023
We have so many questions: Was it really that controversial that he had to read from a written statement? Shouldn’t Rivera speak from the heart here?
So weird. Twitter agreed:
This was how Twitter reacted
Ron got a script…I’m done…#HTTC https://t.co/XFT2uC0i84
— Josh Taylor (@JoshTaylorFB) August 9, 2023
A few weeks into training camp. Under new ownership. Beginning a must-win season. Opens presser with having to clarify comments (from yesterday) that revealed players decrying treatment of new, mean OC. Seen this show many, many times before. Trust me, there was a whole lotta https://t.co/W0qK4OLcCk
— Jason Reid (@JReidESPN) August 9, 2023
This is so weird. He's READING a prepared statement that is so long and wordy. LOL
What a mess. No one cares if you win. But what is going on? He can't speak from the heart or off the cuff on this? https://t.co/FDloKvj70v
— OG EB Eric Bickel (@EBJunkies) August 9, 2023
Was this so serious that it required Ron to read from a prepared statement? 🤔 https://t.co/Bpdj3lbgCM
— Jim Trotter (@JimTrotter_NFL) August 9, 2023
Couple questions:
1. Why is he reading from a script? Is Ron Rivera not capable of just talking about this without having to read from a script?
2. Who wrote this for him? Did this come down from the new ownership?
3. Doesn't this just make it worse?BLE on FULL display. https://t.co/bEEY5uVPXp
— John Stolnis (@JohnStolnis) August 9, 2023
If there's one thing Rivera's shown us the last two days it's that it sure feels like he wasn't the one driving the Bienemy hire https://t.co/EiPTcImc8t
— Myles Gorham (@MylesGorham85) August 9, 2023
Ron reading notes…for that?! https://t.co/ylpc5MBASy
— Damien Woody (@damienwoody) August 9, 2023
PR team needs to continue giving him scripts. He cant be trusted to wing it. https://t.co/hJjOvApklW
— wes. (@WesleyTate33) August 9, 2023
The paper didn’t help. This is more legal speak than sincere. I understand what Rivera was trying to say yesterday, but it didn’t come out as intended. Ultimately, the team will be fine, but Rivera invited the outside forces to question what’s going on. https://t.co/S5rTA2pVVe
— https://linktr.ee/thispersonstinks (@tracytran) August 9, 2023
