WASHINGTON — With their bye week over, the Washington Commanders are now getting ready for the Los Angeles Rams, the first of their final four games of the regular season.
Yes, I said regular season because believe it or not, the Commanders are still mathematically alive for the playoffs. Now, there’s a greater chance that I could win a Golden Globe, but there’s a chance and it’s one of the two things that head coach Ron Rivera is telling his team this week.
“One is there is always that opportunity. But two, this is about being a professional," said Rivera. "Come to work, put in an honest day's hard work and then get ready for the next day and then we'll play on Sunday. And that's going to be the whole point, guys, that this is what this is about. This is about coming in and being the professional."
The Rams lost to the Baltimore Ravens in overtime on a heartbreaking punt return, and yes just like most of us, the Commanders' coaching staff was watching the actual TV broadcast.
“There are some things that you can pick up. You know, sometimes, when they do the production meetings, a coach or a player will say something, and they may talk about it," he said. "So, you may pick something up there while you're watching the broadcast. You can see things like if they go tempo, which we knew that they did.”
One last thing, the talk of the NFL is officiating at the end of the Bills-Chiefs game. Kansas City’s wide receiver Kadarius Toney was called for offsides on a play where he ended up scoring on a lateral from his teammate Travis Kelce. The touchdown would have given K.C. the lead late in the game. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and head coach Andy Reid torched the officials after the game. Rivera was well aware.
“It's unfortunate that happened," Rivera said. "What you would like to see is the continued communication between the referees and the coaches and the players. Because you really don't want something like that to come up and create that kind of a situation. And, you know, just knowing coach [Reid], you know, he's a very reserved man. When he speaks, you know, he’s one of those with a lot of credibility."
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+