‘Dust-Up’: Commanders Coach Jack Del Rio Apologizes for Capitol Attack Remark
On the finale of Washington Commanders OTA's, the attention should have been on Carson Wentz and his ingratiation into the offense or Ron Rivera and his blowup after a hit knocked Dyami Brown out of practice.
Instead, the headliner was defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio and the comments he made at the post-practice press conference.
Earlier this week, coach Del Rio took to Twitter to comment on the upcoming committee hearings and challenged why the hearings were taking place while the violent protests in summer 2020 were not receiving as much attention.
Del Rio was asked about the tweet during Wednesday's press conference, and Del Rio responded with this answer:
"I can look at images on the TV, people's livelihoods are being destroyed, businesses are being burned down, no problem," Del Rio said. "And then we have a dust-up at the Capitol, nothing burned down, and we're going to make that a major deal."
Del Rio was also asked whether he felt his comments would make an impact in the job the Commanders have to do.
"Anything that I ever say or write, I'd be comfortable saying or writing in front of everybody that I work with, players and coaches," Del Rio said. "I express myself as an American. We have that ability. I love this country, and I believe what I believe, and I've said what I want to say. Every now and then, there's some people that get offended by it."
Del Rio's comments received a ton of backlash on social media, which led to the Washington defensive coordinator making a statement on Twitter Wednesday afternoon.
The Commanders return next week for mandatory minicamp from June 14-16.