Coach Ron Rivera on Washington Discipline: 'Maybe I Need to Change My Approach'

While those outside the team point fingers, it's on those inside to fix the problem

Maybe it's the Washington Football Team franchise stink lingering in the air, or the quarterback play of Taylor Heinicke. It could be the poor play of defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio's group, and maybe Chase Young is a bust. Jamin Davis might have been a wasted pick. 

Or perhaps Ron Rivera just isn't the head coach we all wanted to believe he was. 

Whatever reason you, or we, think the WFT is struggling in this 2-4 start to the 2021 NFL Season, the year will move on.

Ask coach Rivera what the mistakes are attributed to, and he'll give you a simple answer. 

"I think it's a little bit a lack of discipline," Rivera told media on Monday. "Which I said (Sunday) falls on me. That's something that if I have to approach it differently than I will...and that's something that's important."

Discipline is absolutely one of the fundamental keys to succeeding in professional sports. 

It doesn't matter what you're doing in performance-based businesses, if you go about it with a lack of discipline, you're going to fail.

So how does it get fixed? As the man said himself, it starts with the head coach. 

"As far as coaching is concerned, there are certain ways to approach it," Rivera said. "And maybe I need to change my approach."

Now, I don't know about you, but those words don't sound like good news for the players. 

Of course, we don't know what this really means. On some teams, fumbles can get a running back benched for the next series or even the remainder of a game. 

Will Rivera go that route with missed tackles? Especially the really bad, lack of discipline, missed tackles?

Only time will tell, really. Words are empty unless results are seen on the field. Even if those results involve the benching of a notable player to get a message through to the rest. 

The question then is, do we then crucify the coaches for pulling said player, if they lose the game?

It's not an easy problem to fix, as easy as it is to point out. And part of the challenges involves an inability to really work on it between games. 

"You have to find other ways to be creative, to create opportunities, to practice tackling," Rivera said when asked about fixing the issue in practice when contact is so limited. "It's one of the hard things that you don't get the opportunity to really do ... because of the injuries we've sustained, we've had to slow practices down and we've actually had to cut some of the periods and create a bit more walkthrough.''

You've heard the saying, 'When it rains, it pours'? Well, it's monsoon season for coach Rivera right now. 

But you've likely also heard the saying, "Attitude reflects leadership...". And this also rings true. If the organization can't get right, then coach Rivera has to be the beacon of stability and focus on the task at hand. 

He's aware of it, and says he's doing things to fix it. All we can do is trust the words, and wait to witness the results.

Rivera will get his next chance in Green Bay on Sunday.