Ron Rivera Presser: Getting a Wild Card spot is the carrot, but we’re not ruling out the division title

LIVE: Coach Rivera speaks with the media https://t.co/OHWcVYoiye

— Washington Football Team (@WashingtonNFL) November 22, 2021

Taylor Heinicke is starting to develop into a "consummate leader," Ron Rivera says.

— Matthew Paras (@Matthew_Paras) November 22, 2021

Ron Rivera said one of Taylor Heinicke's biggest improvements in recent weeks is his understanding of passing windows, and learning to throw to a spot instead of trying to lob a pass in perfectly to a receiver.

— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) November 22, 2021

Rivera said of Heinicke that he "gets it. he understands football pretty well.... A couple of times I heard [Scott Turner] say, 'no... ok, good decision.' Those are some innate things you can't tell, if you're sticking exactly to the way things are."

— John Keim (@john_keim) November 22, 2021

Rivera mentioned Philip Rivers' command of practice and how that compares to Taylor Heinicke's. He also talked about evaluating college, FA, and their own QBs.

— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsHH) November 22, 2021

Ron Rivera says he'll "absolutely" use the Wild Card as an aiming point for Washington — but he isn't ruling out the division yet either pic.twitter.com/UJhHfBUm1y

— Pete Hailey (@PeteHaileyNBCS) November 22, 2021

Ron Rivera says the team can absolutely use the Wild Card as a benchmark to strive for

"Most certainly, that's the carrot."

But also says the team can strive for the division, too, if the team takes care of business down the stretch.

— Rhiannon Walker (@InstantRHIplay) November 22, 2021

Asked about Cam Newton’s TD celebration Ron Rivera says it wasn’t taunting bc it was a home game and the Panthers logo. Same as @BMitchliveNBCS said earlier.

— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) November 22, 2021

Ron Rivera says he knows he'd get nowhere with the refs if he asked about taunting on this play since Cam was at home celebrating at midfield -- and would have been fine with that interpretation. https://t.co/SvglOgJLj1

— Ben Standig (@BenStandig) November 22, 2021

Rivera said he didn't have a problem with Cam Newton not being called for taunting after he ran to the logo following his TD. "It didn't bother me... because that's interesting; that wasn't important," he said.

— John Keim (@john_keim) November 22, 2021

Rivera says Washington doesn’t want to “make it a blown up situation” with Antonio Gibson putting the ball on the ground. Says he must protect the ball better, not focus on not fumbling

— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) November 22, 2021

Ron Rivera believes Kendall Fuller "gets lost in the mix" a bit in the secondary but is very impressed with how Fuller is performing as of late. Rivera also praised Landon Collins and Kam Curl (specifically what Kam did yesterday) when reviewing the secondary

— Pete Hailey (@PeteHaileyNBCS) November 22, 2021

Ron Rivera with some praise for the secondary, citing Kam Curl as an influential player yesterday. Also dapped up Kendall Fuller's communication and Landon Collins overall.

— Ben Standig (@BenStandig) November 22, 2021

Ron Rivera says he likes the physicality from the offensive and defensive lines, and better communication in the secondary

— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsHH) November 22, 2021

Rivera said after watching the film, the play of the offensive line jumped out - pointing out the inside push...Flowers has been another understated contributor.... also: Likes the way the secondary has tightened up coverage. Felt it was tough to defend RPO's plus a QB who runs

— John Keim (@john_keim) November 22, 2021