During his two-plus-year tenure with Washington, Ron Rivera hasn’t had the best grasp of the team’s quarterback situation. From Alex Smith to Taylor Heinicke to Ryan Fitzpatrick to Carson Wentz, the position has been a carousel of misfortune and ineffectiveness.
Sources told ESPN for a story published Thursday that the offseason acquisition of Wentz was driven by team owner Dan Snyder and not Rivera. After the Commanders’ ugly 12-7 win over the Bears in Chicago on “Thursday Night Football,” an angry Rivera delivered a speech backing his passer and seeking to set the record straight on who really made the call to bring Wentz in:
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Rivera’s speech in full:
Earlier in the week, quotes by Rivera were taken out of context after he was asked what was the reason for the gap between the Commanders and the rest of the NFC East. Rivera simply said “quarterback.” Wentz would later say the quotes were no big deal. Rivera would later apologize for what he said.
Everybody keeps wanting to say that I didn’t want anything to do with Carson. Well, bulls—. I’m the f—ing guy that pulled out the sheets of paper, that looked at the analytics, that watched the tape in the freakin’ — when we were in Indianapolis (at the NFL Combine).
Well that’s what pisses me off. The young man doesn’t deserve to have that all the time. I’m sorry. I’m done.
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The Commanders are now 2-4 and are coming off another ugly offensive performance. Wentz was 12 of 22 passing for just 99 yards in the win at Soldier Field.
If Wentz and the Washington offense continue to sputter, we’ll see if Rivera keeps taking ownership of the decision.
