Commanders’ Ron Rivera Has Clear Message for Rookies: 'Be Attentive & Pay Attention!'

The Washington Commanders are currently holding their rookie mini-camp with head coach Ron Rivera wanting his newest players to soak in all the information they are getting.

The Washington Commanders, like many teams, are currently putting their rookies through their paces at mini-camp.

With seven of Washington's rookies looking to put their best foot forward, head coach Ron Rivera will be a keen onlooker at practices to see how they are adjusting to life as an NFL player.

But as far as mini-camp and training camp, what is Rivera looking for from his rookies?

“More than anything else is pay attention," Rivera said. "Be very attentive, pay attention. That's probably the biggest thing because one thing a coach wants to do is he wants to make sure he feels that what he's telling the young man, he's listening to, he's hearing and he's understanding.”

Washington's rookie class consists of cornerback Emmanuel Forbes, safety Jartavius Martin, center Ricky Stromberg, offensive lineman Braeden Daniels, EDGE K.J. Henry, running back Chris Rodriguez Jr., and linebacker Andre Jones.

All of these guys will be looking to impress Rivera and the Commanders' coaching staff in the hopes of making it onto the 53-man roster. He’ll be hoping for more learning lessons along the way. 

“If you're not sure, ask straight up, ask and that's all right,” Rivera said. “… It just shows that you wanna make sure you know what you're doing. You wanna make sure that you know you're doing it right.”

If the rookie class can soak up every bit of information given to them by the coaching group, it’ll hold them in good stead in the coming months.

After all, getting drafted is just the beginning. The "proper" work starts now.

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