Ron Rivera offered a mea culpa Wednesday following Tuesday's comments regarding the transition to new offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy's approach.
The Washington Commanders coach offered a lengthy opening statement to his press conference, noting that his comments "took on a different life" than he intended and that he wasn't as straightforward as needed.
Rivera said he spoke to Bieniemy about his comments.
"I basically told him I put my foot in my mouth," he said. "I think what I said wasn't as clear as it needed to be. I think the understanding of it is just the fact that I think everybody's making, in my opinion, a little bit more than needs to be made of this. Because again, the results are what you're looking for on the field, and so far, the last couple days have been outstanding. I think Eric has done a great job of communicating his message now that guys have opened up, talked with him, he's opened up to them. It's been a great bit of growth the last couple of days that guys are starting to have the a-ha moments."
On Tuesday, Rivera said certain offensive players have struggled to adapt to Bieniemy's coaching style. On Wednesday, he noted that every coach has a different approach.
"As I've said many times since I've hired Eric, I love the overall message that he gave to the team his first day, and that was basically we've got to learn to be comfortable when we're uncomfortable," Rivera said. "And I think what's happened is for those guys on that side of the ball, things are uncomfortable. There's been a lot of change, and the entire way of doing things has changed on the offensive side. Change is hard, and I've always encouraged our players to have great dialogue and build relationships with our staff. Since those conversations took place with Eric and the players, I've seen the improvements, and I can honestly say the last couple of practices probably have been the best of training camp, which I think is great. To me, that displays the team is beginning to embrace the message and approach to how he does things and how we want things done."
Rivera's comments Tuesday included comparing Bieniemy's approach and how defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio handles his side of the ball. Rivera clarified that he wasn't trying to pit the two against each other.
"I was just trying to convey that we all have our own way of doing things," he said Wednesday, "and neither one's better than the other."
The 61-year-old played nine seasons with the Chicago Bears (1984-1992) under Mike Ditka and Buddy Ryan. He compared Bieniemy's style to those former coaches.
"I've probably played for two of the toughest throwback guys that you could have, and to me, Eric is a little bit of a throwback," he said.
It's normal for players to take time to adjust to a different coaching style and even gripe about the changes during the rigors of training camp. But moving forward, the Commanders believe everything will smooth out as we hit the 2023 campaign.
"I think the biggest thing is that we're all on the same page -- everybody," Rivera said. "I'm fortunate to have an experienced staff with guys like Eric and Jack and a roster of players who want to help this franchise take the next step. We're all working to build a culture where players and staff can respect each other's point of views and the way that we do things and continue to be very professional with one another. At the end of the day, we're all a family, and we're working towards a same goal, and that's to win. I just wanted to get that out there so that everybody understands I wasn't as clear as I probably needed to be, and I own that, and that's on me."
