Ron Rivera says Sean McVay, Jared Goff best QB-head coach duo since Bill Belichick-Tom Brady

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- In his preparation for Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams, Washington Football Team head coach Ron Rivera noticed a more confident Jared Goff on film.

Rivera attributes that command of the huddle and at the line of scrimmage to the closer relationship between the Cal product and head coach Sean McVay.

“They’re putting a little bit more on his shoulders,” Rivera told Los Angeles-area reporters this week. That’s part of Jared’s growth. Sean’s trusting him more and more. Sean’s putting him in a position to make more and more decisions.

“As soon as those two guys get together, I mean, who knows? You could have a relationship there, like they have in New Orleans between (Saints Head Coach) Sean Payton and (Saints QB) Drew Brees -- that’s the kind of relationship you could see.

“I mean, a young guy developing with another young coach and those two could be there together for 10, 15 years and you can have a dynamic duo. That’s what they have in New Orleans. I mean, it’s as good a duo as a quarterback and head coach that I’ve seen since (Patriots Head Coach Bill) Belichick and (QB Tom) Brady.”

Belichick and Brady won six Super Bowls together. Goff understands that high praise from Rivera, particularly because the two have yet to win a Super Bowl.

“That’s a huge compliment coming from him, and I appreciate that,” Goff said. “Yeah, we’ve got a long way to go. Those guys have obviously won Super Bowls together. Me and Sean have to win one first and then we can start, you know, hopefully having a long career together.

“But we’ve got a lot of work to do and we feel good about where we’re at. I’ve obviously loved Sean as my head coach, and I feel he feels the same way about me, but it’s been great, and we hope to keep growing.”

McVay is facing his former team in Washington for the second time since he took over as head coach of the Rams, but the first time on the road at FedEx Field. McVay spent seven seasons with Washington as an offensive assistant, including three as the team’s offensive coordinator under then-head coach Jay Gruden.

“There are very few players that are still left on that roster that I was with,” McVay said. “It’s a very small number. It shows you the turnover that occurs in this league. Not many people on the coaching staff, there’s still a couple people in some different departments. But, it’s amazing.

“You just realize how much things change in this league year-after-year and sometimes for good, sometimes for not good. It’ll be good to go back there, but it’ll feel very different because so many of the people that are there now, I don’t really know.”

Rivera has had his hands full in his first season with Washington, dealing with the name change, sexual harassment allegations, the COVID-19 pandemic, social justice protests over racial inequality and his own battle with skin cancer.

“He’s a great man,” McVay said about Rivera’s battle with cancer. “Watching the way that he’s handled this is reflective of exactly what you would say, ‘This is a guy that represents a lot of the things that are right about football and perseverance and being a man of character and integrity and leading and caring about people.’”

Rivera said he started the second round of chemotherapy treatments this week.

“Everybody tells you the second cycle is probably your hardest, which I just agree,” Rivera said. “But the last few days have been really tough. Today (Wednesday) was actually a very good day. I got some extra hydration from the doctors and was able to get through practices today.

“So, I expect to feel pretty good, because as the days go on, the effects start to wear off. I should be fine on Sunday. I expect to get an IV before the game, hydrate just in case, and we’ll go from there.”