Commanders' Ron Rivera: 'I put my foot in my mouth' with Eric Bieniemy comments

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Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera opened his Wednesday press conference with a prepared statement one day after saying some players were a "little concerned" with the intensity of offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. 

"I realize my comments yesterday took on a different life than I intended yesterday," Rivera said. "And that's on me for not being as clear as I needed to be. I’ll own that.

Head coach Ron Rivera of the Washington Commanders looks on during training camp at OrthoVirginia Training Center on July 28, 2022, in Ashburn, Virginia. (Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

"At the end of the day, we know that we’re trying to build here and we’re all aligned. As I’ve said many times since I hired Eric, I love the overall message that he gave to the team his first day. And that was basically, we gotta learn to be comfortable when we’re uncomfortable. And I think what’s happened is, for guys that are on that side of the ball, things are uncomfortable. There’s been a lot of change."

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On Tuesday, Rivera said he encouraged players to go talk with Bieniemy in order to "understand what he’s trying to get across to you." 

"Change is hard, and I’ve always encouraged our players to have great dialogue and build relationships with our staff," Rivera continued on Wednesday. "Since those conversations took place with Eric and the players, I’ve seen the improvement. 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 that’s beginning to embrace