by Washington Commanders coach Ron Rivera apologized for causing a stir with Monday’s comments about quarterback Carson Wentz.
Rivera said on the Don Geronimo Show Tuesday morning that he addressed the team and spoke to Wentz about his comments the day before.
“He didn’t have to. I was fortunate enough that the director of media relations contacted him and let him know,” Rivera said, via his Nicki Jhabvala The Washington Post. “And I actually talked to Carson this morning. I actually talked to the whole team. I had a mea culpa moment and I should have known better. I created a little bit of a distraction and that’s one thing I try not to do. And it’s one thing that I’m very aware of. Again, it’s one of those things that when you’re wrong, people can’t wait to pounce on it and jump on it and hold it without a chance to explain yourself. Hey, that’s about me. You should to know better.”
On Monday, Rivera was asked why other NFC East teams (all 4-1 or better) lead the division at this point and he replied: “Quarterback.”
The coach added that he has no regrets about trading for Wentz despite the team’s struggles that saw them go 1-4.
“No, I have no regrets about this quarterback,” he said Monday. “I think our quarterback has done some good things. There’s been a couple of games where he’s struggled, but you look at his numbers from yesterday and you’re like, OK, look, the numbers he’s had all year, he’s been pretty solid at times. And then we had the unfortunate Philadelphia game, and he struggled a little bit in the Dallas game. But the way he played yesterday, and it just shows you what he’s capable of, and we picked him because we believe in him. We picked him because we looked at what we felt were things that pointed toward his part”.
On Tuesday, Rivera clarified that his comments about other NFC East teams were about the QB’s familiarity with their systems while Wentz is in his first year with the Commanders.
Wentz wasn’t the reason Washington lost to Tennessee on Sunday. The QB went 25-of-38 passing for 359 yards with two TDs and an INT, including a 75-yard TD to Dyami Brown that went 46.2 yards in the air (most air yards completed for Washington since Week 14, 2016 , per Next Gen Stats).
Wentz was sacked 20 times in five games (third-most in the NFL) and threw six interceptions (third-most), while throwing for 1,390 yards (fifth-most) and 10 TDs (tied for fifth-most).
