Ron Rivera Presser: “I’m excited that they asked my opinion” about the name change

The first question that Coach Rivera got today was about WR and TE. Coach had good things to say about Antonio Gandy-Golden and some of the tight end depth. He went on to praise the work of RB Jaret Patterson in the Pats game, then talked about his development as a returner in catching the ball, finding the blocks and making tacklers miss.

Asked about his vocal opinion about vaccinations this week, Ron said that he wasn’t trying to get “on a pedestal or a podium”. He said that he simply answered the question he was asked as honestly as he could.

Ron also talked about Antonio Gibson’s growth in terms of consistency in both the run game and pass protection. Ron mentioned that Gibson is still learning the running back position.

The head coach talked about the ability of quarterbacks to throw with anticipation. He said that Fitzpatrick had made the throws “about 25,000 times” so he is able to do what the coaches expected when he was signed. Asked what he had learned about the veteran QB, Rivera talked about Fitz’s “style”, by which he meant maturity, class and leadership. He talked about the open relationships Fitz had built with teammates.

Asked about Troy Apke, Ron said that the safety-turned-cornerback has opportunities and is showing that he is starting to get comfortable in the new position.

Ron was asked about the rebrand (new team name) and said he was excited that they’d asked his opinion. He says the process is “cool” and stressed that the team represents the entire DMV.

Near the end, Ron talked about managing the rotation of players in practice, stressing how challenging it is to get every player the needed exposure. He was asked about Dax Milne and said that the rookie receiver is ahead of where a young player might be expected to be a this point. He also talked about how Cam Sims uses his body well and fights for the ball when it’s thrown to him.