Speculation about Commanders head coach Ron Rivera’s job security began as soon as Josh Harris bought the team earlier this year and their 4-6 start to the season hasn’t done much to quiet it.
On Friday, Rivera said that he is “confident and comfortable” with the job that he’s done with the team over the course of a tenure marked by drama off the field and losing records on it. He knows that a new owner may want to move in a different direction, though, and said that he’s going to focus on the things he can control until a decision is made about his future.
“I mean, I understand the situation and circumstances, but I’m not going to waver on anything. I’ll stick to what I talked about in the spring and that was the growth and development of the quarterback and the offensive unit. . . . My big disappointment has been we haven’t played as well on defense that we’ve needed to,” Rivera said, via Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post. “Does that make my job security shaky? It could. I mean, I have no idea what Mr. Harris is going to do. So all I can do is just focus in on each game each week and just stay on that game. I did the same thing in Carolina, and the truth is, I mean, this is the nature of the game. I get it. So, if it happens, it happens. If I stay, I stay. Until then, I will just continue to work.”
Rivera believes that the team’s culture is better and that they’ve found the right quarterback in Sam Howell. It remains to be seen if that will be enough to overcome another losing record if the Commanders can’t go on a winning streak to close out the regular season.