Rivera tries to keep focus amid disruptions
Ron Rivera has had his moments this year where he’s gotten frustrated, even a little heated, over themyriad rules and the general uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
“I hate it, I really do,” Rivera said Friday. “I hate the uncertainty. I hate the disruption of the consistency of our daily routines. I grew up on daily routines. My dad was in the military, so for the first 18 years ofmy life everythingwas regimented that way. Then I go to college, and for four years everything is regimented thatway. Then I get into the NFL and for nine years, everythingwas regimented. When things are disrupted, nowyou really, truly see just howflexible you are and howyou can adapt and handle it. …
“But, deep down inside— and forgive me for putting it thisway— it just p——me off.”
Little did he knowwhat awaited him after those comments.
In the 72 hours after hisWashington Football Team thrashed theDallas Cowboys on ThanksgivingDay, Rivera learned that all team facilitieswould shut down Monday andTuesday; that the Pittsburgh Steelers’meetingwith the Baltimore Ravenswas postponed a second time because of a surge in positive coronavirus tests; and that the Denver Broncoswould play without a quarterback on their roster after contact-tracing revealed theywere “high-risk.”
AndMonday, he learned thatWashington’s Dec. 13 game against the 49ers will be played in Arizona because of an emergency order in Santa Clara, Calif., banning all sporting activities for at least threeweeks.
Rivera’s life has been thrown upside down this year as he’s navigated a rebuild with a new team that is changing names and dealing with allegations fromits past, while also managing his own cancer diagnosis and theweight of a global pandemic.
For Rivera, the “players’ coach” whose reputation is built largely on human interaction, the virtualworld is challenging.
“I’m one person that is not fond of the Zoom concept and holding meetings with Zoom because it’s hard to see everybody’s reactions,” Rivera said, via Zoom, with reporters onMonday. “Sometimes I say something sarcastic and Iwant to see your guys’ reaction and I can’t and some people might take it the wrongway. So I’ve tried not to be sarcastic because sarcasm and humor do not translate. So I’ve tried to be aware of that.
“And so it’s hard and you get frustrated
and honestly, being told … thatwewere going into these next steps of protocol, that was frustrating. It reallywas. But I understand. I get it. We have to be safe.”
Rivera, the team’s de facto general manager, has had to manage a roster in new ways to account for potential emergency situations, such as that faced by the Broncos, and ensure backups at critical positions stay available. The team signed kicker/punter Kaare Vedvik to its practice squad for that very reason, but their quarterbacks room, which started with four players, is down to three after the season-ending injury toKyle Allen.
“We try to make sure that on certain times, the backups, the practice squad guys understand that they’ve got to stay separated,” Rivera said. “Sowe’re trying to reinforce that even more so now. It’s something thatwe’ve talked about as a staff this week is thatwe’ve got to make sure that these guys all understand they’ve got it. They’ve got to maintain the social distance.”
Rivera has thought about the possibility
that the NFL might have to pause its season, or even be unable to finish it. The league has altered its testing protocols over the course of the season and implemented more stringent mask-wearing rules that come with heavy fines for violations.
But it has yet to cancel any games, even with an increase in cases. Even among teams that have only 10 starters (Baltimore) or no quarterbacks (Denver) or no home stadium (San Francisco).
The NFL’sWeek12 chaos did leave Washington with some uncertainty. Its Week13 game in Pittsburgh on Sunday— which is on for nowbut could change if players test positive before theweekend— and inWeek14, Washington will play the 49ers in State Farm Stadium, home of the Arizona Cardinals, instead of Santa Clara.
Then to close out the season, Washington returns home for meetings with Rivera’s old team, the Panthers, and the Seattle Seahawks, before heading to Philadelphia with possibly a playoff berth on the line.
“We are monitoring it, but one guy that it affects right now, more so than anyone else, is our director of football operations, PaulKelly,” he said. “So I’m going to let him do all theworrying and I’ll try to hopefully keep everybody focused on Pittsburgh.”
Washington (4-7) is second in the NFC East after theNewYork Giants’ victory on Sunday, and howit handles the uncertainty and difficult stretch of opponents may ultimately become measuring sticks of its growth.
Washington returns to practiceWednesday, and Rivera’s message is simple: “Be ready.”
“You got to talk about it,” he said. “And that’s really the only thing thatwe’ve done iswe’ve just talked about the situation we’re in andwe try to make sure guys understand howimportant it is to be adaptable. … I’ve told the coaches this and I’ve told the players, we can’tmake a big deal if something changes. When you start worrying about that, whatwas interesting becomes important. And that’s whatwe don’twant to happen. It’s not important. It’s interesting. It’s different. We deal with it andwe move on.”