Leaders coach Ron Rivera is “not worried” about the job situation after the 35-point loss

After the Leaders’ 45-10 loss to Dallas — their eighth loss in 10 games that dropped them to 4-8 — speculation once again turned to the job security of fourth-year coach Ron Rivera and his staff.

“I told you before that I’m not worried about anything. All I’m going to do is do my job and see how it goes. That’s the only thing I can do,” Rivera said of his situation.

But many players said they were not focused on the coach’s fate.

“Only when you guys ask,” Charles Leno Jr. said. “Nobody brings this s—- up. We don’t talk about this s—-. We don’t care about that stuff. We listen to our coaches who follow the game plan and try to win games.”

Because it is the fourth year under Rivera and the first under owner Josh Harris, there has been constant talk about the coach’s future. Washington won the NFC East under Rivera in 2020 but has not finished with a winning record since 2016.

Harris said he wanted to give staff a full season to better evaluate the entire process. But the Leaders have lost three in a row, and in two nationally televised games, they were outscored 85-30.

“Who’s going to step in and be the head coach? Who?” Leno said. “I don’t know. … Where we are now, I don’t know that this will help anything. I just feel like when you do things like that in the middle of the year, I don’t know, I really don’t know.”

Leno said that even if Harris promotes assistant head coach/offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy to interim coach, “it will be the same because at the end of the day EB will focus on the offense and [defensive coordinator] Jack [Del Rio] He will focus on defense, what is the difference?

Several players privately said that Rivera has not lost the locker room and they want to see him stay as their coach for the rest of the season. It is possible that he may choose to change the coaching staff before the end of the season, but after the match when asked about it, he said: “I will not go into these matters.”

“It doesn’t really impact anything in the locker room,” Washington linebacker Sam Howell said. “We’re just focusing on what we can control, and trying to get better. Obviously, when things aren’t going well, people will talk about jobs for everyone – not just the coaches, the players as well. We just have to figure everything out.” Outside.”

Receiver Terry McLaurin underwent a coaching change here during the 2019 season. Then-owner Dan Snyder fired coach Jay Gruden after an 0-5 start. Gruden was in his sixth season. Washington won its first game after the ejection against the winless Miami Dolphins. But the Leaders finished the season 3-13.

“Just because you make changes here or there doesn’t necessarily affect the outcome all the time,” McLaurin said. “I’m not in those kind of discussions, but I think even my first year when we had some change, we still had our ups and downs. It’s a matter of the players still having respect and pride. You can’t come here ‘with your head down and not put in the effort and not You make an effort. I don’t think it’s a reflection of how much of a player you want to be. So that’s kind of my mentality.”

Washington was coming off an 8-8-1 season and hired Bieniemy to revive the faltering offense. The Leaders elected to start sophomore player Howell at fullback after he played well in a season-ending win over Dallas.

The leaders expected offensive struggles due to the changes, but they did not expect defensive missteps. Washington ranked seventh in points and third in total yards defensively last season. He was hoping to build on that success, but instead struggled throughout the season.

The Leaders rank last in scoring offense and 29th in yards allowed. Players say their struggles extend beyond coaches.

“In the NFL, you have to do your job and as players, we don’t get the job done,” Washington defensive tackle John Allen said. “As coaches, we don’t get the job done, so I don’t think anyone gets the job done.”