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Ron Rivera said that Kyle Allen will be the starter this week against the New York Giants if he is healthy. Allen was taken out of yesterday’s game following a helmet-to-helmet hit, and a shoulder injury. He was checked for a concussion, but was cleared. Rivera said he’s still sore, and will probably be more sore today. Allen ran the offense well, and drove the team down for a scoring drive early to take the lead. Rivera liked his decision-making on the scoring play where Allen took off and ran for the touchdown.
Ron Rivera thought that Alex Smith handled his first game since breaking his leg two years ago pretty well. Smith is a more than capable quarterback, but the situations for his first game back were tough for anyone to deal with. Rivera liked Smith’s escapability and movement during the game.
Rivera was asked about Dwayne Haskins Jr.’s future with the team:
“I see him doing what he did on Friday. I know Wednesday and Thursday were difficult days for him. I get that. But, Friday he came in, was attentive in the meetings, did a nice job coming out to practice, did his mimicking in terms of standing back and watching, going through some of his actions, watching the plays. That’s what I expect, for him to continue to learn and grow. As we continue to get into this and we get further down the road, who knows what’s going to happen? But, that’s what the expectation is. It’s no different from the expectation of any other player, and that’s to be in the meetings, learning, studying, being at practice, learning and studying, participating. That’s what I expect of all of our players.”
Washington Football Team | Press Conference https://t.co/k8RKwZ09za
— Washington Football Team (@WashingtonNFL) October 12, 2020
Kyle Allen:
Ron Rivera was asked which of Kyle Allen's plays yesterday stood out to him the most. He mentioned two but ...
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) October 12, 2020
(I cringed too at my super clickbaity tease. Sorry not sorry.) pic.twitter.com/B9050PMWix
Ron Rivera said Kyle Allen was sore today but in his conversation with him, he reiterated to him that if he's healthy, he'll be Washington's starter Sunday against the Giants.
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) October 12, 2020
Ron Rivera said he has spoken to Kyle Allen, reaffirmed he's the starter if he feels good. Knows he was sore after the game, and will be more sore today.
— Rhiannon Walker (@InstantRHIplay) October 12, 2020
Rivera thought Allen made good decisions on Washington's scoring drive and threw a good ball.
— Zach Selby (@ZachDSelby) October 12, 2020
Rivera says on Kyle Allen TD run - he saw man coverage and knew he could tuck and run.
— Chris Russell AKA The Rooster (@Russellmania621) October 12, 2020
Smart decision. That's one of the ways Ron knew he was in right mode.
Kyle Allen was checked for a concussion yesterday when his arm was being evaluated just to be sure.
— Rhiannon Walker (@InstantRHIplay) October 12, 2020
Alex Smith:
Rivera said he spent a little time with Alex Smith in the locker room after the game. Thought that Smith handled the circumstances well.
— Kyle Stackpole (@kylefstackpole) October 12, 2020
"He's gonna be sore, but I bet it's going to be a good kind of sore."
Rivera thinks Alex Smith is a "more than capable" quarterback. The situations surrounding his return -- rain, defense led by Aaron Donald, being down on the scoreboard -- were tough.
— Zach Selby (@ZachDSelby) October 12, 2020
Ron Rivera said part of why he decided to leave Alex Smith in for the second half, even though Kyle Allen was cleared to return, was because he didn't want Kyle to take another shot and risk greater injury. (He said this post-game, too.)
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) October 12, 2020
Rivera saw some good movement from Smith. His escapability and movement were both things he was glad to see throughout the game.
— Zach Selby (@ZachDSelby) October 12, 2020
Rivera said he is happy for Smith that he was capable of stepping in for Allen. One, because of his harrowing journey, and two, because Washington has another viable option at quarterback.
— Zach Selby (@ZachDSelby) October 12, 2020
Dwayne Haskins Jr.:
Ron Rivera on expectations for Dwayne Haskins. Says Haskins had a very good Friday in practice. pic.twitter.com/riOjiflkpW
— michael phillips (@michaelpRTD) October 12, 2020
Rivera said Dwayne Haskins was attentive in meetings on Friday. "That's what I expect" for him to learn and grow.
— Matthew Paras (@Matthew_Paras) October 12, 2020
Ron Rivera says that Dwayne Haskins was good in practice Friday. Did all the right things.
— Chris Russell AKA The Rooster (@Russellmania621) October 12, 2020
Ron Rivera says he expects Dwayne Haskins to continue to learn and grow. Rivera understands that last week must have been tough for Haskins
— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) October 12, 2020
Landon Collins:
Here's Ron on the early 56-yard TD. Wishes Landon Collins took a better angle. pic.twitter.com/OYf9pF6ZKj
— michael phillips (@michaelpRTD) October 12, 2020
On the long touchdown throw to Robert Woods, Ron Rivera said they were in Cover 2. Kendall Fuller was supposed to widen him out and jam him, which he did, Landon Collins playing halves and didn't take the right angle on that play.
— Rhiannon Walker (@InstantRHIplay) October 12, 2020
Brandon Scherff:
When asked about when Brandon Scherff will practice, Rivera said "we'll see." He's made some recent progress, and they'll monitor him to see when he is ready to return to practice.
— Zach Selby (@ZachDSelby) October 12, 2020
Ron Rivera says "we'll see" on Brandon Scherff practicing this week. Had a couple of good days working on side last week.
— Chris Russell AKA The Rooster (@Russellmania621) October 12, 2020
Eligible to come off of I-R now. #WashingtonFootball
Running game:
Rivera said it's hard to establish the run when you can't get a foothold and you're behind. The offense struggled because of that situation.
— Zach Selby (@ZachDSelby) October 12, 2020
Rivera said that based on the flow and circumstances of the game, it was hard to establish the run.
— Kyle Stackpole (@kylefstackpole) October 12, 2020
"You can't get a foothold if you're behind. "
4 game losing streak:
Rivera says there's "huge disappointment" among his players during this four-game losing streak, but notes that all the losses have come against teams with winning records.
— Matthew Paras (@Matthew_Paras) October 12, 2020
Rivera said the team's collective mindset is disappointment because there have been opportunities in several games. There are still some areas where the team needs to clean up.
— Zach Selby (@ZachDSelby) October 12, 2020
The combined record of @WashingtonNFL's first 5 opponents: 16-7-1
— Kyle Stackpole (@kylefstackpole) October 12, 2020
The combined record of its next four opponents (five games): 4-14-1
The next 6 weeks will tell us a lot about this team.
“Disappointed. But, let’s look at who we lost to. Everybody that we lost to has a winning record. We’re playing good football teams. That’s the big thing, and that’s what we’re working to be is one of those kinds of teams. I think there’s huge disappointment because we had some opportunities. Defensively, there were some third downs that we didn’t stop them on. The players know that. Offensively, we had some plays where we didn’t quite make it and we didn’t convert. That’s the disappointment. We didn’t play up front as well as we would’ve liked to offensively. There are some things that we have to work on, we have to get shored up, and we have to get better at. Again, the disappointment is that we didn’t play better. That to me is a positive because the players know that.”
Defense:
Ron Rivera describes some of the defensive issues as leverage related.
— Chris Russell AKA The Rooster (@Russellmania621) October 12, 2020
Says they are going to self-scout.
"We've got some work to do obviously." #WashingtonFootball
Rivera on the defense. Says there are some good things up happening, "but we don't sustain our success." Mentioned third down struggles yesterday and today.
— Ben Standig (@BenStandig) October 12, 2020
Rivera would like to see consistency and competition. There are good moments in games, but the defense has not been able to sustain its success. He likes the way the unit was able to get teams in 3rd and long situations, but it has to get better at getting them off the field.
— Zach Selby (@ZachDSelby) October 12, 2020
Competition in the secondary:
“I’d like to see a little bit more of that. I don’t mind the competition because I think it makes everybody better. But, I do want to see consistency in our play. We’ve done some really good things, we’ve made some plays, but we don’t sustain success. We get them into a third-and-long and we have a chance to come downhill and make a break on the ball—and it was a terrific break—but unfortunately we got there early and we got a penalty and it was first down. If we get there early, we should make a play on the ball. If we make a play on the ball, they’re punting. Again, those are the kinds of things we have to be better at because we have to sustain the success. You stop them on first down, you get them into second-and-long, now all of a sudden it’s third-and-long, we don’t convert—that’s not sustained success. That’s not consistency. We’ve got to get better at that on both sides of the ball.”
Punt on 4th and 1:
Rivera said reason he did not go for it on 4th/1/WSH-42 was because it was a "long fourth-and-one" and that's why he had it measured. Perhaps would have gone for it if a shorter conversion.
— Chris Russell AKA The Rooster (@Russellmania621) October 12, 2020
Still right call, as I said live yesterday.