Ron Rivera Presser: The only way we can find out if Dwayne Haskins can do it is to keep him on the field

Ron Rivera speaks to the media after today’s loss to the Browns

By Scott Jennings@ScottJenningsHH Sep 27, 2020, 4:30pm EDT

Ron Rivera is now 1-2 as the Washington Football Team’s head coach. Today’s game was a turnover-filled mess, and the Browns got the 34-20 win. Rivera said he told Dwayne Haskins Jr. that he is sticking with him at QB after his 4-turnover day. This is basically Haskins’ rookie season, and Rivera wants to see what he has in his young QB. The only way to do that is to keep him on the field, and “take his lumps” with him.

Washington lost Chase Young (groin) and Matt Ioannidis (arm) to injury, and needed other players to step up. Rivera didn’t offer any updates on the injuries, but said Daron Payne, Jonathan Allen, and Montez Sweat all stepped up today. Dontrelle Inman was also injured in the 4th quarter after catching 2 TDs earlier. Rivera said some of the young skill players also stepped up, one of them being undrafted rookie Isaiah Wright.

Post Game Press Conference | Washington Football Team vs. Cleveland Browns https://t.co/ur1POGSD3m
— Washington Football Team (@WashingtonNFL) September 27, 2020

Chase Young/Matt Ioannidis injuries:

Head coach Ron Rivera speaking to the media now. Does not provide any further updates on Ioannidis and Young, who left the game with injuries.
— Kyle Stackpole (@kylefstackpole) September 27, 2020

Turnovers:

Ron Rivera addressing the media. He called the turnovers disappointing. "You're not going to win football games if you can't win the turnover battle."
— Zach Selby (@ZachDSelby) September 27, 2020

Rivera said Haskins' interceptions bothered him, but that's part of the game and part of his development. As this team grows, Rivera said they will live with the mistakes and learn from them.
— Zach Selby (@ZachDSelby) September 27, 2020

Rivera on if one of the interceptions bothered him more than others: "No, they all bothered me."

Still, Rivera emphasized Dwayne learning and growing. "The only way to find out if he can do it is if we keep him on the football field."
— Kyle Stackpole (@kylefstackpole) September 27, 2020

Dwayne Haskins Jr.:

Ron Rivera issued his full support of Dwayne Haskins after today's game: pic.twitter.com/wTKxUxRgrt
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) September 27, 2020

Rivera said that Haskins "did some good things," but he also forced some things, which led to the turnovers.
— Kyle Stackpole (@kylefstackpole) September 27, 2020

Rivera said he talked to Dwayne Haskins Jr. after the game and said, "I told you, I'm behind you. I'm going to stick with you, so go out and play football."
— Kyle Stackpole (@kylefstackpole) September 27, 2020

Rivera on Haskins: "I'm not going to pull the plug on him just because something like this happens."
— Matthew Paras (@Matthew_Paras) September 27, 2020

Rivera knows there will be a lot of outside noise after today's game, and he said that's exactly what it is: noise. He's going to support Haskins.
— Zach Selby (@ZachDSelby) September 27, 2020

Ron Rivera supports QB Dwayne Haskins despite a rough day: "I'm going to take my lumps with Dwayne. ... The way I see it, he's barely through a rookie year right now."
— Sam Fortier (@Sam4TR) September 27, 2020

Head coach Ron Rivera on QB Dwayne Haskins: "He'll get better. He'll grow, and I think he's a guy we can follow."
— Kyle Stackpole (@kylefstackpole) September 27, 2020

Young players stepping up:

Rivera said he thought some young skill players stepped up. Didn't mention names, but undrafted rookie Isaiah Wright had four catches for 24 yards on six targets.
— Kyle Stackpole (@kylefstackpole) September 27, 2020

Kendall Fuller:

Rivera said it helped to have Kendall Fuller back on defense, but he again called it disappointing that they got behind with the turnovers.
— Zach Selby (@ZachDSelby) September 27, 2020

Offensive pass interference call on Terry McLaurin:

Ron says the OPI call on Terry was "disappointing." He feels like because McLaurin is such a good route runner, he snapped the corner off of him and it looked worse than it was
— Pete Hailey (@PeteHaileyNBCS) September 27, 2020

Montez Sweat:

Rivera said Daron Payne, Montez Sweat and Jonathan Allen stepped up today. After today's game, he feels like Sweat shows he'll be a force to be reckoned with.
— Zach Selby (@ZachDSelby) September 27, 2020

Still believes:

Rivera: "I believe in who we are and who we can become."
— Zach Selby (@ZachDSelby) September 27, 2020

Jennifer King:

Rivera on Jennifer King: It's about time there's some gender equity in this sport.
— Zach Selby (@ZachDSelby) September 27, 2020

Not using timeouts again:

Ron Rivera on not using his time outs at the end. "Once we get past a certain point, yeah, but right now, hey, I'm working on developing my football team." pic.twitter.com/8hff0uotde
— michael phillips (@michaelpRTD) September 27, 2020