Rivera focused on getting to playoffs

Injuries and losses have team’s chances teetering

For four weeks after its bye, the Washington Football Team seemed to turn a corner. Its biggest failures from the first half of the season suddenly became its highest marks, and while it wasn’t always pretty, the resilience of its quarterback seemed to fuel a critical run.

Washington began to develop an identity during a four-game winning streak. What’s more, Washington gave itself a chance at another late-season playoff push by jumping into seventh place in the NFC.

But as injuries and health issues have depleted its roster, Washington has seen old mistakes resurface and — worse — its playoff hopes take on water. Although coach Ron Rivera has preached development and “maturity” throughout his rebuild, the prospect of missing the postseason fires him up.

“I’m not going to approach anything just saying, ‘Well, I hope we can finish this year with a winning record.’ No. I want to get into the playoffs,” he said Wednesday during a video conference call with reporters. “I want to win in the playoffs. I want to win it all, and if I could win all 20 games, I’ll win all 20 games. That’s my mentality. It’s always been my mentality. It will always be my mentality. I hate to lose . ... Would we be disappointed? Tremendously disappointed.”

Washington’s past two losses, against the Dallas Cowboys and Tuesday night at the Philadelphia Eagles, have exposed some of the team’s shortcomings. Mistakes that have lingered for much of the season, if not longer, hung around. Missed tackles. Miscommunication. “Trying to do too much,” as Rivera put it.

“The one thing that really stood out in my mind more than anything else is just we try to do more than we needed to, and that was something that I thought we could have handled better,” Rivera said of his team’s performance against the Eagles. “… We’ve got to stay in the moment. We can’t catch the ball and run until we’ve caught the ball. We can’t make the tackle until we’ve defeated the blocker. … We were trying to do more than we needed to without finishing the task before we move on to the next thing.”

But Washington’s circumstances grow more challenging each week. Time and resources are working against the team’s hopes of playing deep into January.

Injuries have cost Washington three of its top playmakers — tight end Logan Thomas (knee), running back J.D. McKissic (neck) and wide receiver Curtis Samuel (groin, hamstring). The coronavirus sapped

its defense and then its quarterbacks. And now running back Antonio Gibson is fighting a toe injury that Rivera said is “very similar” to the turf toe he dealt with last season. Cornerback William Jackson III (calf ) and safety Landon Collins (foot) underwent MRI exams Wednesday to determine the extent of injuries they suffered Tuesday. And the team is without McKissic for at least two more games after he was placed on injured reserve Tuesday.

Making matters worse, rookie linebacker Jamin Davis is dealing with a shoulder injury and veteran linebacker Cole Holcomb was placed in the covid-19 protocols Wednesday. Holcomb has played the “mike,” or middle linebacker spot, for Washington and has logged all but 13 of the team’s defensive snaps this season.

Washington could get quarterbacks Taylor Heinicke and Kyle Allen back in time for Sunday night’s game, but depending on their health and their status in the protocols, Washington’s short week of practice before visiting Dallas could be even more limited for them.

“I really do believe all you need is a chance,” Rivera said. “A big part of it, too, though, is being healthy at the right time, getting players back at the right opportunity, not having a big distraction, being able to stay focused as you trend toward something. We’ll find out.”

Rivera used the same message late last season, when Washington followed a similar path — a four-game winning streak despite long odds, then two disappointing losses to put the playoffs in jeopardy — and closed out the season with a division-clinching win.

Washington no longer has the advantage of being a surprise. There’s tape on its defense and its quarterbacks, and unlike last season it has a grueling stretch of divisional games to finish.

Rivera is convinced his team is still “in the driver’s seat” of its playoff push, though it no longer truly controls its fate. Winning out — at the Cowboys on Sunday, against the Eagles at FedEx Field and then at the New York Giants in Week 18 — would give Washington its best chances of making it.

With his team 6-8 and in 10th place in the NFC, Rivera remains hopeful.

“This is our opportunity,” he said. “We have to win to give ourselves a chance.”