Ron Rivera's review of Scott Turner's season was awfully terse originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
During a year-in-review press conference on Tuesday, Ron Rivera was asked to assess Scott Turner’s performance as offensive coordinator across the 2022 season.
Rivera didn’t take long to get through his response.
“Scott did his job, did the things that he tried to do and we’re going to self-evaluate and go through that process,” the Commanders’ head coach told reporters about one of his primary assistants.
And, well, that was it.
Rivera’s presser, which also featured General Manager Martin Mayhew, occurred a couple of days following the organization’s eighth and final win of its most recent campaign. The 8-8-1 record that Washington produced comes on the heels of a 7-10 effort in Rivera’s second go-round and a 7-9 output in his debut with the club, indicating that there hasn’t been much overall progress under him.
The same, or even worse, can be said about Turner’s offenses.
Turner’s units have averaged 20.9 points, 19.7 points and, most recently, 18.9 points per game with him at the helm, which placed the group 25th, 23rd and 24th in the sport, respectively.
Washington Football Talk Podcast | Listen and Follow | Watch on YouTube
Of course, the endless churn at quarterback has affected Turner’s ability to operate his schemes since arriving in 2020, as it would almost any play-caller. The offensive line has been shuffled often, too, especially at center and especially in 2022.
Yet after a trio of poor finishes in the scoring ranks and back-to-back-to-back ho-hum seasons as a whole, it’s not a stretch to wonder if some type of significant change is coming to the Commanders’ off-field structure. Should Rivera — whose own gig may be safe by default because of the franchise’s unclear ownership situation — opt to shake things up, Turner could be the guy to fall.
At the very least, Rivera’s terse quote on Tuesday certainly won’t quiet the speculation surrounding Turner. It’s not the only time Rivera’s offered a stale answer about Turner of late, by the way.
Last Friday, ahead of the Week 18 finale against the Cowboys, Rivera faced a similar question regarding Turner’s coordinating — and it’s one he handled with similar brevity.
“I think we’ve had our moments,” Rivera said. “I think there’s some really good things considering the availability of everybody. You know, it’s been tough.”
Again, that’s the entire quote.
Rivera has tended to be very patient with his major decisions, as he prefers to communicate (perhaps overly so) with people he trusts and really ponder the consequences of whatever choice he’s weighing.
When it comes to Turner’s future, though, Rivera’s lack of legitimate endorsement may prove to be telling. While Turner signed an extension in mid-March, it appears that his boss is displeased with what he’s accomplished and is currently not all that interested in hiding it, either.
