What stuck out about this particular moment on May 16, to Ron Rivera, is that it really wasn’t meant to stick out at all. It happened organically and, in coming that way, gave the Commanders’ coach another level of encouragement that his team did the right thing in trading for Carson Wentz back in March.
The setting was a country club in northern Virginia near the Potomac River, and the coaches had just knocked off the players after the players challenged them to go out earlier in the offseason. Four foursomes settled it on the golf course that afternoon, and Wentz was in the clubhouse afterward chopping it up with teammates Taylor Heinicke, Cole Holcomb, Kendall Fuller, Jonathan Allen, Joey Slye, Tress Way and Brian Johnson.
“And you watched him, and he integrated himself with everybody so easily. It was really cool to see,” said Rivera, who then added, “It sure looked natural to me. And it’s funny because I’ve heard a lot of things about what was said in Philadelphia, I heard a lot of things that were said in Indianapolis.”
For the record, Wentz and Heinicke won their match that Monday—beating offensive coordinator Scott Turner and quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese.
But the bigger win for Wentz, really, took place on the 19th hole.
While Rivera wouldn’t dive into exactly what he was referencing, from Wentz’s experience with the Eagles and Colts, it doesn’t take too much digging to figure it out. Questions about how he relates with teammates have dogged him since his play first went the wrong way, toward the end of his time in Philly. It was never, to be clear, that Wentz was a bad guy. More so, it was how, and really whether, he was connecting with the guys like a quarterback should.
What the Commanders’ coach would say is why, when Washington pulled the trigger back on March 9, he punched the gas where so many others were tapping the brakes on Wentz’s capacity to become again what he was through his first four or so NFL seasons. Specifically, Rivera points to comments he saw, after the trade, from Indy’s alphas—T.Y. Hilton, Darius Leonard and Jonathan Taylor—on who the QB was as a player and as a person.
“Those quotes came out,” Rivera said, “And you were like, .”
Rivera feels like he knows the rest now. Or more of it, at least.
Which is why, come this fall, he’s expecting more out of Wentz than most do.
