Ron Rivera: "I would feel very comfortable with Kyle."

Ron Rivera said a lot over a 30-minute video call on Tuesday.

He opined on Trent Williams and Quinton Dunbar. Also, why the Redskins did not land Austin Hooper and we got some details on his relationship with Dan Snyder so far.

Rivera was asked about the quarterback situation and competition but never mentioned Dwayne Haskins by name in a lengthy and nearly 5,000 word conference. (Credit Ben Standig of The Athletic for pointing this out first and it's true. I checked).

Ron Rivera spoke with local reporters for a good long while yesterday so I took my time examining his words. On what Rivera said (on the QB battle, no. 2, Trent, etc) and what I heard.https://t.co/5CLI0oVzlG
— Ben Standig (@BenStandig) April 8, 2020

Here's what Rivera said about his quarterbacks to reporters at mass:

“I think it will be a good competition I really do, mostly because having been around Kyle [Allen] for two seasons I’ve kind of watched him interact with the quarterbacks that were in the room. You know he was in the room with a very strong personality in Cam Newton and Kyle handled himself tremendously. And we had Taylor Heinicke and he was Taylor’s understudy. I just know what kind of person he is, and just feel that he’s the kind of guy that’s going to go into this, he’s not threatened by anything.

"What he’s really concerned about is doing the best job he can and if he ends up starting and being the guy, great, he’ll be fired up about it. And if he’s not, he’s in the backup role, he’ll be fired up about that as well. I mean he’s the right kind of person for that room and that’s what I felt really strongly about and that’s why we were able to make the deal with Carolina to bring him in. He’s got that real good sense about him, that being part of something is better than being an individual.”

Some walked away with the vibe/feeling/sense that Dwayne Haskins is automatically the starter for the Redskins. I don't know how, but I sure as heck did not.

Jenny Vrentas later was able to talk with Rivera by phone and Rivera explained his position further:

"If we were told, hey, you've got two weeks to go, I would feel very comfortable with Kyle," Rivera said, "because here's a guy that knows the system, has been in the system and could handle it for us for a period of time, and we'll see how that goes. That's kind of the thought process behind it for us."

If you read that quote, you could walk away with two different view points.

1. Allen is absolutely capable of starting for the Redskins coming out of training camp, which has been my contention all along. But it seems as if Rivera doesn't really want to go into the season with that as their plan.

2. Haskins is the No. 1 going into camp right now because Allen in Rivera's words "could handle it for us for a period of time and we'll see how that goes."

I would also caution everyone that Rivera and Scott Turner have not worked a single day with Haskins just yet. That is going to be the ultimate judge, not paper or words.

Washington team reporter @Russellmania621 previews what the team might do in the upcoming 2020 NFL draft ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/QxoWcH9wTo
— The MMQB (@theMMQB) March 31, 2020

We can split hairs the entire offseason but this won't be decided until August at the earliest and I challenge anyone to tell me with 100% certainty that Haskins is absolutely the starter.

He shouldn't be. If words and actions mean anything.

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Chris Russell is the Publisher of RedskinsReport.com & Sports Illustrated's Washington Redskins channel. He can be heard on 106.7 The FAN in the Washington D.C. area and world-wide on Radio.com. Chris also hosts the "Locked on Redskins" Podcast and can be read via subscription to Warpath Magazine. You can e-mail Chris at russellmania09@Gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @Russellmania621.

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