WASHINGTON — The Washington Commanders are bouncing back following their second loss of the season. The Commanders gave the Eagles just about everything could handle and lost 34-31 in overtime.
"This game was a game we had to fight to stay in," said Commanders Head Coach Ron Rivera as he sat down with WUSA9 Chick Hernandez. "I love the fight, I really did."
Rivera called the divisional contest a bounce-back opportunity after last week's defeat against the Buffalo Bills and while the team took another loss, Rivera is proud of the fact they took one of the two Super Bowl contenders from last year into overtime.
"We'll find something from that but I think what it really does show is, ya know, how resilient we are," he said. "Our quarterback is a very resilient young man."
They had a chance to win the game with no time on the clock but that meant going for two after scoring on the game's final play, Sam Howell to Jahan Dotson. Rivera then decided to kick it and try to win in overtime.
"I mean, if we'd gone for two and we didn't score then I'm catching hell for 'why would you go for two, your guys were gassed,' or, you know, they rotate their guys a lot," Rivera explained. "You have the same 11 out there. I mean, you can't win. So I'm not gonna debate it."
Rookie Cornerback Emmanuel Forbes had a rough day, with the Eagles throwing the ball in his direction early and often. Rivera spoke with the 22-year-old after he was exposed by A.J. Brown. telling him that Brown isn't the only veteran player he'll be going up against this year.
"I do know he will be smarter, he will be better, he'll be more prepared now that he's had that kind of game," Rivera said. "I mean, everybody has that and as he goes through this growth process he's gonna take his lumps."
Up next, a short work week as The Commanders will host the Chicago Bears on Thursday night, four days earlier than the team normally plays. Rivera says while everything has been hurried up, some preparations were already in place as of Monday morning.
"We've already had meetings as far as those things are concerned, we have prepared a walk-through practice for our guys," He explained. "So when they get in we're gonna meet, after we meet we have a walk-through, after our walk-through we'll have dinner and then they'll have a set of meetings later on."
Chicago is winless this season Rivera is keeping an eye on Quarterback Justin Fields, a player he says has a chance to be a really good one in the league.
"As he continues to grow and develop, you know, because of his skill set and his intelligence, he is a dynamic young man. He gave us hell last year," Rivera said. "So, we're not gonna take him lightly. I'm gonna make sure we're aware of that."
As the team moves forward from back-to-back losses, Rivera says his outlook is positive.
"When you have a week like we did against Buffalo and you come back and you play the way you did, you give yourself a chance, there's growth and there's development, and that's what we're seeing," he explained. "Now, could we have played better? Hell yes. But I think what we've done is we've shown ourselves that we are capable and that you can use and you can bank it."
Rivera has a history with Chicago, as that is where he played pro ball in his playing days.
“Yes, it should be and one thing we can't do is we can't take this opponent very lightly because they get a lot of pride too. I mean a lot of history and tradition in Chicago. And I promise you they're going to use that.”
WUSA9 will sit down with Commanders Head Coach Ron Rivera every Monday throughout the 2023-2024 season. The one-on-one moments will premiere on WUSA9 at 5, 6 and 11 p.m. and again on Get Up DC every Tuesday morning. The full interview between Rivera and Chick Hernandez will be available on WUSA9+.