Notes for Practice | Ron Rivera has a straightforward message for the Commanders.
It’s the first thing players on the Washington Commanders see when they go into the locker room. A sign with one word in all caps hangs above the door: “DO YOUR JOB.”
Following the team’s 40-20 loss to the Chicago Bears, coach Ron Rivera had the sign erected. It’s a simple phrase that may sound apparent, but after watching film from the prior five games and reviewing some data, Rivera believes it’s important to emphasize as the Commanders reach the “second quarter” of the season.
“There’s a sense and a feeling that we’re not doing the things that we need to do,” Rivera stated at a press conference on Wednesday.
Even though it might not feel like the Commanders have done much right since starting 2-0, there have been some moments where the team has looked the way it was expected to be in training camp. They hung with the Philadelphia Eagles and came close to getting an upset on their undefeated NFC East rival, and against the Chicago Bears, they did score 17 points in the second half to try and come back from a 27-3 deficit.
That doesn’t erase the slow starts or the frustrating lack of execution at critical moments. The Commanders have either blown leads like they did against the Eagles, when they had a 17-7 lead in the second quarter, or they have been so far behind that they needed improbable comebacks to pull out wins.
The sign is difficult to overlook for players, and they understand the message it represents.
“You’re going to be successful if all 11 people do their jobs,” Logan Thomas remarked. “That’s something we haven’t done. It hasn’t always been 11. It’s been ten years, nine years, ten years. But if all 11 of us execute our jobs correctly, we’ll be doing fairly well. If we can stop beating ourselves up, we’ll be able to go up against the opponent.”
Rivera understands that the message is obvious; it is intended to be that way, and sometimes the obvious must be stated. That’s what he said to the players on Tuesday before they started preparing for the Atlanta Falcons. He didn’t say exactly what was said, but he did admit to being “very blunt about it.”
“That’s what we’re paid for, is to do our job, to do it to the best of our ability,” Rivera said in a statement. “I just think we need to get going. We got to ask ourselves in the mirror, which I believe is crucial.”
It hasn’t always been easy for the Commanders to do so in recent weeks, but the players are confident in what they can do if they perform their jobs.
“We don’t need nobody being Superman,” Kendall Fuller stated. “Everyone just playing their keys, doing their jobs, and making their plays.” “I believe it will all happen.”
— Despite being 2-3 and losing the last three games, Rivera said the players have been “pretty resilient” about their situation.
“They know that there are circumstances, situations that we can do better. I think the biggest thing more so for these guys is really just the way they’re approaching this week so far. [They] came out and had a good practice today. I think they’re focused, getting themselves ready, preparing, so I’m not concerned about that.”
— Slow starts have been a problem for the entire team, but that is particularly true for the defense. Rivera spoke plainly when asked what the unit could do to improve.
“Be better on third down. When you come out into a series and you have two third downs, the third-and-double digits, you’ve got to be able to stop them and that’s something we didn’t do a very good job of.”
— It’s been a tough couple of weeks for rookie Emmanuel Forbes Jr., and in terms of where and how much he’ll be used going forward, Rivera said “we’ll see.”
“How he handles this situation and the circumstances is crucial to him.” It’s critical for us to watch and see how he handles a variety of situations. We’ll keep working, he’ll keep working, as will the rest of the DBs, and we’ll see how things go.”
