WFT Quotes 9/28/20: Ron Rivera

[Boone]

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September 28, 2020

Head Coach Ron Rivera

On injury updates for DT Matt Ioannidis and DE Chase Young:
“No, not as of right now. In fact, to be honest with you I haven’t had a chance to talk to [Head Athletic Trainer
Ryan Vermillion]. I just finished up watching some tape and talking to a couple coaches. So, I’ll probably go
down after I talk to you guys and get a little bit of an update.”

On how the rookie class performed against the Browns:
“[I’m] very pleased. It’s unfortunate that Chase got hurt, mostly especially because of the way you saw [DE]
Montez [Sweat] play. If we had a complementary action to that—I mean, [DE] Ryan Kerrigan played well. But,
you have a guy like Chase that’s outside on the edge, you’ve got one flushing out to you, different things will
happen. So that was unfortunate. But, Chase has played well. Chase has been everything that we thought he
would be. Unfortunately, he’s got the groin injury. We’ll have to see how he is when I get a chance to talk to
RV a little bit later. You mention [WR Antonio Gandy-Golden], he got his opportunity and done some really
good things. [RB] Antonio Gibson has done some good things. He’s got to protect the ball a little bit better. But,
those guys are doing things that we were hoping. [C] Keith Ismael is in a great position in terms of the backup,
not just center but he backs up the guard for us so we’ve been happy with his progress. Kamren Curl is a
guy that really has exceeded expectations. It’s one of those things that this is a guy that not having the workouts
I think is why he slipped and was where he was when we drafted him. I think if he’d had the workouts, I think
people would’ve saw a little bit more into him and he would’ve been drafted higher. So, he’s a guy that we’re
very fortunate to have on the football team. [WR] Isaiah Wright has been excellent, he really has. You’ve just
seen the progress each week, and that’s what you’re looking for is growth. You want to see a guy produce every
week and show that he is growing. We’ve seen that from all the guys I mentioned. I hope I’m not forgetting
anybody. I probably am. The young class really has got our attention. I’m very happy about it. I’m very pleased
with the effort that we’re getting in terms of their growth.”

On T Saahdiq Charles:
“The injury thing with Saahdiq has been a little disappointing, just because you saw it early and then you
haven’t seen it because we haven’t seen him on the practice field. So, hopefully we’ll be smart with him this
week and not let him get out there too soon. Hopefully we’ll get him back in the near future.”

On WR Dontrelle Inman’s injury:
“The nice thing about him I will tell you is it’s not the fracture, which we were concerned about. He got an Xray and it came back negative, so that’s a positive in this thing for us is that it wasn’t. Hopefully it’s not too sore
today. He played well. He was a presence obviously with the touchdown catches. He’s a guy that kind of helps
lead those young guys, so I’ve been very pleased with having Dontrelle around.”

On WR Terry McLaurin’s performances:
“[He’s] just everything that was advertised. I know when we were in Carolina, we liked him enough that we
wanted to pick him and the Washington Football Team picked him before us. He’s a guy that exceeded
expectations obviously and it’s one of those things that if everybody knew he was going to be like this, he
would’ve been a first rounder or a second rounder. Just fortunate to have him. Everything he works on he excels
at. I’m just disappointed in the OPI call on him. I got a chance to break the tape down and really watch it, what
Terry really did was the defender had his left hand on him, he went and swam the hand. The action looked like a
push off when it’s really just a move to get that hand off and make his break. He runs very good routes, very
precise and when he stuck that foot in the ground and came back and the defender kept going, it does look like a
push off but it wasn’t. You get a chance to really break it down, it was not. Terry’s been everything as
advertised.”

On his takeaways from QB Dwayne Haskins Jr.’s interceptions:
“Well, I can tell you, one, on a couple of them he stared down. He got to the read too soon. Because he got there
too soon, he ended up staring it. He starts here and then he goes to where he threw the ball. It’s one of those
things where: ‘Hey, I’m here in the hole and then I come here, focus and throw the ball.’ It would’ve had those
guys break a little later and it would’ve been a better chance for a completion. A little bit of the mechanics—
he’s got to slow his mechanics down. He’s got to slow his reads down, stay on his initial a little bit longer and
really go to where you need to go. That’s probably the biggest thing they’re going to tell him. I had a chance to
talk to both [quarterbacks coach] Ken [Zampese] and [offensive coordinator] Scott [Turner] about it. They both
felt that he was a little too fast coming off from one to the other. He’s got to start with the progression a little bit
better. There were some mechanical issues that he’s got to continue to work on and get better at. Again as I said,
the thing at some point that he’s going through the process. He’s growing. He’s developing, but we’ve got to
continue to see positive growth. We can’t see a regression. The one thing he has to understand is there’s a
certain point where you’re no longer a rookie. Again, to me he’s still learning and growing. But there’s a point
where, hey you know what, you should be more positive with your throwing plays.”

On correcting Haskins Jr.’s decision making:
“The biggest thing for me is I go to those guys, to the coordinators, to the position coaches and I ask specific
questions. I’m looking for specific answers. Some of those are about making sure he understands where to start
his progressions and also how long to hang onto his guys. Again, it’s all based on the same coverage: ‘I got this
coverage, this is where I’m going to start my progression. I’ve got this coverage; this is where I’m going to start
my progression.’ He has to understand. He threw a touchdown pass to Dontrelle and he actually started his
progression on the wrong side. He ended up where he needed to be. So when you look at it, you think that’s a
good decision. But, it was based on: ‘OK, I went from here to here to there, when if I had gone from here to
there, I might’ve thrown the ball sooner.’ So, there’s some things again that he still has to continue to work on
and grow.”

On Haskins Jr. not believing he stared down receivers:
“Well, because again he went through the progression like he should. But again going from here to there, he got
there too fast. If I’m supposed to hold, hold, hold and then go over here—OK great. Now, he probably thought
he held here long enough and then threw to where he wanted to throw the ball. So, that’s why to him in his
thought process it’s: ‘Hey, I went to here like I was supposed to and then I went over here. But, I got here and
then went here too fast.’ He’s got to learn those things. That’s part of the process of growing and understanding
how to go through your progressions to get to where you need to throw the ball.”

On Haskins Jr.’s progression:
“He’s still growing. Again, we’ve seen it. And again, the thing that we want to make sure we’re seeing is
positive growth. We don’t want to see regression or him taking steps back. We want to see him continue to go
forward. He has moments where he did things the way we want him to. He did some positive things and put us
in some good positions. But, we also took a couple steps back with the interceptions and understanding how
we’ve got to protect the ball, where he needs to throw the ball.”

On quantifying Haskins Jr.’s growth:
“Well, I think he’s shown his growth and it’s been positive for us. But, there’s a certain point where we’ll know.
He’s still progressing and growing.”

On if yesterday’s performance was a regression for Haskins Jr.:
“I think at times. But, there were some positives. You look at the scoring drives that we had, you look at the
play he made on fourth down, staying there, sticking in there and going to [TE] Logan [Thomas], that was a
huge positive. You see the two touchdown throws to Dontrelle—both of them were excellent balls that were
thrown where they needed to be thrown to give Dontrelle the chance to make a catch which he did. But, then
you see the interceptions and the untimely errors. Those are the things we have to work on and correct.”

On what he needs to see from Haskins Jr.:
“It’s all about showing growth. Again as we start preparing for Baltimore coming in early and obviously getting
the game plan for the first day, looking at those things that are going to be installed and going out there and
executing them—again, understanding: ‘OK, if I make a mistake and it’s here, I should’ve started with this guy
or worked with this guy.’ Those are the things that you have to see every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. You
want to see that. The thing that you’re really looking for on Friday is that it’s fast and it’s fluid, there’s not a lot
of mistakes. Those first days are tough because there’s not a lot of installation. But Friday after having a couple
days to work on things and review the tape, now you see it. I do mean it; it should be a mistake-free day. If
we’re making mistakes—why? Get those things corrected. But, what happened where we made those mistakes?
That’s what I’m looking for as we go through Wednesday-Thursday, but especially Friday.”

On evaluating the offense:
“There are a lot of guys that gave their hearts and put their heart out on the field. Truthfully, they deserve better.
When you look at the way [DT] Daron [Payne] played and [DT] Jonathan [Allen] and Montez—guys like that
are leaving it on the field. [LB] Jon Bostic. Guys played hard. Then you turn around and look at the offensive
side, those guys on the offensive line were battling too. The backs, the receivers, the tight ends—you have to
say at some point there is. I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.”

On if there is a timeline for quarterback evaluation:
“There is. To me, there is. Again—and you brought up the point and it’s a very good point—there are guys in
that locker room that are playing to win. Again, we have to make sure that everybody is playing well enough to
win at that point. There is a cutoff point for me, there is.”

On utilizing data for when injuries occur:
“Well, I think just from my own personal experience—again, we got in a situation yesterday where we were
down and we had six defensive linemen that were playing and playing hard—I had concerns. I did. We lost
Dontrelle. I have concerns. Again, my thought process is developing this football team with players that are
going to be here for the foreseeable future. I don’t want to expose those guys in the circumstances and situations
right now. It’s tough. I get it. Using timeouts may have given us more time with the football, or what it may
have done was give them an opportunity to grind it out even more after they take a 30 second break. Again, I’m
concerned with this football team and with this football team’s development. I’ll make decisions that I think are
best for us going forward and I’m going to stand by it. That’s the way I’ll look at it right now. This is a young
team that I have to protect. I have to make sure they develop, and I’m going to do it the way I think is best.”

On explaining the long-term process to veterans:
“Those guys ask the questions, that’s going to be my answer. Again, they’re here to help us and they’re a part of
our football team. [DE] Ryan [Kerrigan]’s not done. Ryan’s going to play football and he may play for a few
years. Hopefully it’s here. I just think everyone has to understand that there’s a group of guys that for the
foreseeable future are our future. Right now, I’m doing what I believe is best for this football team.”

On the safety tandem of S Landon Collins and S Troy Apke:
“There’s been some positives. There’s been some growth. I thought Troy played a much better game than he did
last week. I thought Landon did some good things for us. Unfortunately, we missed a few tackles. That’s one
thing that does stand out in my mind that we missed a couple tackles. Again, it’s just one of those things as we
grow in this defense, those guys grow together. They’ve got to continue to work together and we’ll see how it
is. I’ll talk to [defensive coordinator] Jack [Del Rio] and see how Jack feels about it. I’ll talk to Scott and see
how Scott feels about it and I’ll talk to [special teams coordinator] Nate [Kaczor] and see how Nate feels about
it. Again, everybody’s opinion is important to us.”

On how problems arise:
“I think we saw some things that were a part of the problem, and like you said part of it is the ‘whack a mole’
thing. Things are popping up. One thing that pops up, when you put a guy like Troy Apke out there and he’s
inexperienced. Some of those things will show. But, it’s about seeing that positive growth. This week I thought
he played well. I thought he played with better angles. I thought for the most part we were able to contain the
passing game. A week before, the receivers had big days. We were able to limit their exposure and explosive
plays. A part of it, too, is that they got to the ground game and grinded it out. But, we saw the positive growth.
That was good to see. And then we saw something pop up on a play where we weren’t supposed to be. We
didn’t fit up like we should. That was disappointing. This is part of the growth that we’re going to go through.
We’re going to have some growing pains. But again, we’re going to do it and we’re going to do it with what I
believe is the right way.”

On if the mistakes from Haskins Jr. are due to inexperience:
“I think a lot of it is experience. The only way it’s going to be harder to correct in my opinion is if he doesn’t
learn it. That’s understanding what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to do things based on different
circumstances. He has some reads that he has to make, but that’s part of quarterbacking. Depending on what the
play is, I get up there, I look at it, I gather the information, I see what I believe is a middle closed and this is
how we’re going to attack it. Or, I come out there and I say: ‘This is what I believe is a middle open defense.
This is how we want to attack it.’ Those are the things that he has to learn and he has to progress to. The hard
part for him last year is he wasn’t the primary quarterback until the very end of the season. Now, he becomes
the primary quarterback. Everything is being put in for him, now he has to learn it. Well now is his continuation
of his education and growth. Again as I said, we’re looking for positive growth.”