Surprise! Rivera Rewards Washington Football Team With Offseason Work Change
ASHBURN, Va. -- The Washington Football Team and specifically head coach Ron Rivera are taking care of the young men who play for him.
Rivera is moving the final week of the offseason program, a mandatory minicamp scheduled for June 15, 16 and 17, and essentially eliminating that week completely off the calendar while replacing the final week of non-mandatory organized team activities - scheduled for the week before (June 8 - 10) - with the still mandatory mini-camp.
Why? As a reward.
Washington had good attendance through the offseason program and on Tuesday when media was allowed to attend, they had 86 guys of the 90 in the building.
Rivera is also happy with the tempo and progress of his team.
“Yes,'' he said, "I was happy about some of the veteran guys telling some of the young guys, ‘Hey, we don’t walk around here. We hustle to here and we hustle to there.’ I thought that was a pretty cool comment from one of our senior defensive guys. I think the guys are understanding that if you want to play fast you have to practice fast. This is as good of a simulation as you can get."
READ MORE: A Strong Start For OTA's
That was the first indication that Rivera was pleased with how his team was responding and performing not only in on-field work but behind the scenes, both in the strength-and-conditioning area and also in position meetings.
A fairly simple gesture like this is why many players love to play for Rivera. He's not a "soft'' overly-friendly players coach ... but he is player-sensitive and also has the understanding of what can be gained by the mental aspect of the game.
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Remember, the WFT were one of the teams that did not issue a silly statement regarding the NFLPA views on participation in the offseason program. COVID concerns were one thing; players being essentially forced to be at the team facility while not getting paid is another.
Washington under Rivera, with decisions like these, can be an even more attractive place for players who want to be treated right - as long as the WFT also wins.
