While most Washington Commanders fans were still reeling over their team's near-buzzer-to-buzzer loss to the division rival Philadelphia Eagles in Week 3, Ron Rivera took to the microphone in an attempt to explain what happened and lay out a plan moving forward.
And yet, Rivera's media availability won't be remembered for what he said about his offensive line, his defense, or even his quarterback Carson Wentz, who was sacked a career-high nine times. No, this particular press conference will be remembered for Rivera's comments on a quarterback who isn't on the team, namely Jimmy Garappolo of the San Francisco 49ers, who the team reportedly almost traded for back in the spring.
Per ESPN, the Niners and Commanders had the framework of a deal in place that would send the veteran quarterback to the nation's capital for multiple draft picks, but Jimmy G opted to have surgery on his throwing shoulder. With Garoppolo off the board, Washington turned their attention to Carson Wentz, who was being shopped hard by the Indianapolis Colts and the rest, as they say, is history.
Discussing the circulated deal, Rivera called out ESPN, saying “That was a bullcrap report,” and refused to discuss the deal any further, which is probably a good idea, as the team clearly has bigger issues at the moment down 1-2 with their issues becoming more and more glaring with each passing week.
Did Wentz play poorly because he found out that he wasn't Washington's first choice? No, Wentz played poorly because he held the ball for too long and was routinely blown up by the Eagles' defense. But did the report serve as an unnecessary distraction for a team with issues? That is far more likely and a big reason why Rivera shut it down right away.
Rivera was quite angry about the ESPN report that said Washington was close to acquiring Jimmy Garoppolo; “That was a bullcrap report.”
Rivera was especially upset over the timing of it.
— Matthew Paras (@Matthew_Paras) September 25, 2022
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