Commanders Coach Ron Rivera on Eric Bieniemy Comments: ‘I Put My Foot in My Mouth’

A day after Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera admitted that players had concerns with assistant head coach and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy's coaching style, Rivera said "I wasn't as clear as I probably needed to be."

On Tuesday, Rivera said that multiple players had approached him regarding issues with Bieniemy's approach, one that Rivera acknowledged was "different".

"One of the biggest things is I had a number of guys come to me, and I said, ‘Hey, just go talk to him,’", Rivera said. "I said, ‘Understand what he’s trying to get across to you.’"

Later in the day, Bieniemy described himself as an "upfront" and "hard-nosed" coach, but said "we all got to get uncomfortable to get comfortable."

A head coach admitting that communication issues between a staff member and players is certainly atypical. On Wednesday, Rivera felt the need to cool the temperature, saying that he had spoken with Bieniemy and the players on the situation.

"I basically told him I put my foot in my mouth," Rivera said. "I think what I said wasn't as clear as it needed to be. And I think the understanding of it is just the fact that I think everybody is making, in my opinion, a little more than needs to be made of this."

According to Rivera, communication between Bieniemy and Commanders players has already improved.

“Since those conversations took place with Eric and the players, I’ve seen the improvements," Rivera said. "And I can honestly say that the last couple of practices probably have been the best of training camp, which I think is great. To me, that displays a team is beginning to embrace the message and approach to how he does things and how we want things done.”

Whether Bieniemy's style truly gets through to the offense will be determined by what happens on the field. Last season, the Commanders were 20th in the league in yards per game (330.3) and 24th in points per game (18.9). During Bieniemy's five seasons as Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator, the offense never ranked lower than sixth in either category.