Washington Commanders players unhappy about intensity

The Washington Commanders are seriously hoping that 2023 could be the year that they turn things around. For the first time in what feels like forever, the Commanders will boast a brand new ownership team that seems more committed to winning than ever. On top of that, they made a flurry of roster moves, including hiring top-notch offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. Bieniemy was the Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive coordinator for the past few years and has been consistently tied to head coaching rumours. Well, it appears that his presence is already impacting this Washington roster.

It was reported by their actual head coach Ron Rivera that a few players have had trouble adapting to the new intensity around practice with Bieniemy. This seems like a few players, in particular, haven’t been fond of how hard he’s working them in practice, though it could mean something positive. After all, there is always that possibility that the Commanders have held back in practice in recent years, and Bieniemy isn’t used to that coming from a Super Bowl contender year after year. At this point, anything could be happening behind the scenes here. The bottom line is that Rivera or Bieniemy don’t plan to change the intensity levels yet.

Once news broke on a few Commanders being upset with the intensity levels, superstar wideout Tyreek Hill went on social media to defend his former offensive coordinator. Hill said, “Man there is no other coach that has your back like EB!! Take that coaching and get better we all been through. It’s tough, but I promise you it will make you better.” If there’s anybody to take this knowledge from, it’s a guy that’s won a Super Bowl with this exact coach leading the charge. 

Then finally, reporters made their way to Bieniemy himself. He said this about the recent news, “Just like I stated when I first got here: We’ve all got to get uncomfortable to get comfortable. There’s some new demands and expectations that I expect. I expect us to be the team that we’re supposed to be. It’s not gonna be easy, and everybody ain’t gonna like the process. But when it’s all said and done with, my job is to make sure that we’re doing it the right way.”

He continued by saying that he’s always going to be honest with his players but won’t change his coaching style. And why would he? Washington has been stuck towards the bottom of their division for years, not counting a losing season where they squirmed their way into the playoffs a few years ago. This group badly needs a good season to turn things around and build confidence, and Bieniemy is convinced that this work will help them achieve this goal. 

Only time will tell if the players learn to adopt this new coaching method or despise it for the remainder of training camp. Either way, this story is very interesting to watch out of Washington.