Ron Rivera Presser: Jack Del Rio can turn defenses around quickly

The Washington Football Team got a lot healthier on their second day back from the bye week. Ron Rivera said he comes from the same era as Jack Del Rio, and they have a mutual respect for each other. They’re both old school coaches who are a little on the “crusty” side. Del Rio has a tendency to turn defenses around quickly, and he demands discipline and results from his players.

Rivera is still focused on building a new culture in Washington, and teaching the team how to win. The players are buying into the way Rivera and his staff do things, the way they need to practice. Rivera wants everyone to have a shared vision, and work towards the same goal. The process doesn’t happen overnight, and there will be bumps as they continue to build the team.

Injury updates:

Jack Del Rio:

UBUNTU:

Building a new culture:

“I felt comfortable with the things that we’ve done. I think the guys are buying into the way we need to do things, the way we need to practice. I think the thing we’re trying to do is get guys that are like-mind, that share vision, that share the process. I like what [G] Brandon Scherff said after the Dallas game, and that is: ‘I talked to the guys about the process.’ Everybody talks about the process of building, building, building—well, at a certain point the process has to end. Now, the rest of it starts to take over. That’s kind of where I think we are. I thought we had a really good couple of months leading up to where we are. I feel very comfortable and confident the guys understand what we want from them. As we go through this, we’re going to go through bumps. We’re going to go through ups and downs and also some really good periods and some really low periods. It’s all a part of growing. Each thing that we do I believe is just another part of growing. I’m pretty excited about where we are right now.”

Self-evaluation:

Gut feeling:

Defensive line:

“It’s having the impact that you would envision. But to be honest, I think it could be better. I really do. I think it’s a good, young group that’s still learning and growing and figuring their way out. There are still some elements of learning that they have to do, some bad habits that we’ve got to get corrected. When I say bad habits, some techniques that they used to use in a different style. This is a completely different defense. So, we’ve got to get them to learn those techniques and learn those habits and develop them. You guys heard me say it, it takes about 5,000 reps before things start to get different. We’re not even close yet. We’ve still got a lot of work to do. We’ve still got a lot of practice to do and developing and growing to get this team to where we want it to be.”

Return to normal:

Steven Sims Jr.:

Salute to Service:

Military background:

Chase Young:

Learning how to win:

“I think the biggest thing is, and I talked about it, you learn to win because you play to win. Now you’ve got to learn to win by practicing to win. I asked the guys and made a comment about it today: ‘There’s a little thing about how you practice. Did you practice like a champion today?’ We’re seeing it. We’re seeing our practices have been getting better. They’re not where they need to be and they’re not where they should be. We’re going to work to get those things up because they have to understand that you take what you put onto the practice field into the game field. We have some veterans that practice the right way. We have some young guys that practice the right way. Terry McLaurin is a great example of a young guy. Brandon Scherff and [T] Morgan Moses are examples of older guys that practice the right way. We’ve got to get everybody practicing the right way. I talked about it today, guys that are on the show team—you can’t think about it as a hassle: ‘Oh, I’ve got to go on the show team.’ No. If I’m on the show team, now’s a time for me to work my skillset. Now’s a chance for me to improve my technique. It’s also a chance for me to help give a good picture and a good look for my teammates.”

Fans back at FedEx Field:

“I think probably the biggest thing that I really do appreciate—and I can’t wait to have a full stadium here—has been this fanbase. Most of my appreciation has come as an opponent. I know walking into this stadium when there’s a crowd, it’s not easy. That’s one thing that you can always rely on as a player, especially when you’re winning, that your home crowd is going to be there and they’re going to be behind you. They’re going to be fired up, they’re going to get after the opponent, they’re going to cheer and know when not to. That you can draw energy from. When you make a big play and something great happens and the crowd erupts, that energy level is just crazy. It’s been kind of strange because the first time against Philadelphia walking in and not having anybody there, to be honest with you, once the game started I wasn’t really aware the crowd wasn’t there until there was a lull. Then, most recently, against Dallas when we had friends and family, that was pretty awesome because you could hear the friends and family. The families were making some pretty good noise. I’m excited. I know it’s going to be a limited number this week, about 3,000 folks. With the friends and family, which was somewhere around 500, making the noise they did, I can only imagine what 3,000 is going to sound like. Like I said, I can’t wait to have 80,000 in that stadium because it’s going to be pretty awesome.”

Jack Del Rio wants to build on what the defensive line has done to start the season, and to continually improve. The DL works together with the LBs and the secondary to have success. He threw out the cliche that football is the ultimate team sport. When all three levels of the defense are working together, that’s when you can do some really special things.

Jack Del Rio

Daniel Jones:

Defensive line:

“For us, it’s just to build on the start that we had to the season. We’re looking to continually improve. We established high standards. Our expectations are very high. We’re going to keep pushing for that. The biggest thing that I’m excited about is the way I’ve seen the guys working at it, the energy they bring every day. Positive things come about with that type of approach. I’m pleased with the way that we’re attacking it. We’re seeking to be better, and we should be better as the year goes on.”

“We’ve done some really good things and we have some areas where we’re going to continue to improve. We’re going to work at it collectively. To me, there’s too much of an attempt to separate the D-line from the linebackers and DBs. It all works together. I’ll throw a cliché at you: ‘It’s the ultimate team sport.’ It just is. A good rush is going to have a hard time if you don’t have coverage. Good coverage is going to potentially break down if you don’t have a good rush. It really does tie together. As a former linebacker, I understand the linebackers are tied to the front and the back end. All three levels of your defense are important. When they’re all working together, that’s when you can do some really special things.”

Learning from coaching previous defenses:

“I think you certainly learn everywhere. Everywhere you are, you’re learning. I’ve had a chance—if you go all the way back to the history of where I started, you have to start with me as a player and the systems I was exposed to as a player. People like Tony Dungy that were a huge impact on my life and the way I do things. I think if you go all the way back that way, obviously I’ve been coaching a long time. You grow as you go. Certainly, you have to change, you have to stay current with the times. Challenges that the defenses face in today’s world are much different than they were 20 years ago. I seek to stay current. To me, it’s not about only one person. I’m a person that puts together and helps coordinate it. But the reality is we have a lot of good coaches and players that are working really hard to help this thing get turned in the right direction. That’s kind of how I approach it. I come in with great energy every day excited to do what I do. I love to communicate. I love to teach. I love to motivate. We come in and attack it every day and have a little fun on the way. We’re hoping to be better as we go through the season.”

Player to coach:

Chase Young:

Young dropping on zone blitzes:

“I think, first of all, he’s not going to drop a lot. But the last game, he actually—we added it up—he ended up being the guy who ended up being called on the drop seven times, which was never part of the plan to have him drop that much. It just worked out that way. It was totally freakish. It could’ve gone the other way. It just had to do with where they aligned. He wasn’t the designated drop-guy, it just happened. Without talking too much about scheme, the bottom line is he’s doing a great job. He plays hard, he works hard, he’s a great teammate. He comes out with great energy every day. His numbers are going to come. We really just want to encourage him to stay the course and continue to be the fine young man that he is and continue to play with an edge.”

Secondary:

“We’ve worked hard at becoming sound in what we’re doing in the back end and limiting the number of explosive plays that we allow. When you talk about explosive plays, you’re typically talking about the back end, leverage issues, missed tackles or missed assignments. We’re working hard as a defense to minimize those, make offenses have to work and not allow explosive plays the best we can. Obviously, communication is key. Leverage and tackling is key, having an understanding of where you belong and being in there and being accountable for your teammates is a part of it. I like the way our group has worked at it. I think we’re an improving group, but we have a lot of work to do yet as we get into the second half of the year.”

Kamren Curl

Madden:

Daron Payne

Building of the Cowboys win:

Run game:

Practice:

Chase Young:

Antonio Gibson

Bye Week:

J.D. McKissic:

Chase Young

Mom’s season grade:

Practice:

Tic-tac-toe:

Giants rematch: