Commanders QB Carson Wentz: Coach Ron Rivera's Directness 'Means A Lot'
CHICAGO, Il. -- If Washington Commanders quarterback Carson Wentz's career has been a roller coaster, his first six weeks of this season have been that stretch where the ride reaches a tipping point.
What comes next, is usually a massive drop. And a loss against the Chicago Bears would have likely gotten this ride to that moment.
Fortunately for Wentz and his team, they held that off for the time being, and now get a pseudo bye week to step away from the game a bit, and from the chaos.
"Everyone wants to keep saying I didn't want anything to do with Carson," coach Ron Rivera said in his viral rant during his postgame press conference on Thursday night. "Well, bulls--t. I'm the (expletive) guy that pulled out the sheets of paper, that looked at the analytics, that watched the tape when we were at Indianapolis, okay. And that's what pisses me off. Because the young man doesn't deserve to have that all the time."
He then walked out of the interview room before fielding any further questions.
By the time Wentz came up to the press conference podium, he apparently didn't know exactly what his coach had said, or that he'd come to his defense so adamantly.
But he appreciated knowing that Rivera was willing to stick his neck out for him.
"He's awesome," Wentz said of coach Rivera. "I've had a ton of respect for him...from afar, but getting to play for him is even better...He's going to speak his mind. He's going to be very direct and to the point, and in this business that means a lot."
By now, Wentz knows what Rivera said about him. And he surely appreciates his coach's direct nature even more.
But prior to the famous moment of transparency, there was a different feeling in the room.
One of pride.
"There's a toughness about (Wentz) that I don't think a lot of people understand," Rivera said of his quarterback when asked about his willingness to lay a block on Bears linebacker Roquan Smith. "He's a very resilient young man, and he wants to win in a bad way. And I hope that's an exhibition of his desire. His willingness to go out and just lay it on the line."
If there's a toughness in Wentz, there are certainly loads of it in his coach. Something he displayed over and over again during his days playing for the very franchise his Commanders defeated Thursday.
But it was Rivera's tough nature in the interview room beneath the stadium that made the biggest impact of the night.
And even if not everyone in the media group enjoyed it, it's something his players will certainly love to hear.
You can follow David Harrison on Twitter @DHarrison82.
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