Washington Football Team: Ron Rivera fires back at Joe Judge

Ron Rivera had a scathing response to Joe Judge after the New York Giants head coach took an apparent jab at the Washington Football Team.

There’s bad blood heating up the matchup between Washington and New York on Sunday.

Giants head coach Joe Judge appeared to use the WFT as an example of a dysfunctional football team during comments to the media last weekend.

“This ain’t a team that’s having fistfights on the sidelines. This ain’t some clown show organization,” Judge said in what seemed to be a clear reference to Washington’s struggles this season, including Jonathan Allen’s swing at teammate Daron Payne on the WFT sideline. Judge denied that he was specifically referring to Washington.

After downplaying the situation, Ron Rivera addressed the comments in more detail on the Kevin Sheehan Show, making clear his disapproval of Judge’s approach.

Washington Football Team: Ron Rivera claps back at Joe Judge

“It disappoints me because for somebody to make a comment like that and not really know what the circumstances of the situation we’ve gone through,” Rivera said, per Scott Jennings of Hogs Haven.

“I mean for goodness sake you know if you pay attention to what’s happening you would have found out that we had just had one of our most popular players, a guy that’s very popular amongst his teammates, was in a terrible car accident where his longtime girlfriend is killed. We had another player who lost his brother to murder and then we had another player who lost another brother.

“There’s reasons why things happen, and to take a shot at people when people are going through what they’re going through, that’s not right. If you don’t know and understand other people’s teams, talk about yourself, talk about your own team. That’s what’s fair.”

Rivera’s whole point is simply not to comment on situations without context. It’s a fair criticism though it doesn’t entirely explain why WFT has struggled the way they have this season. Either way, Washington’s struggles are their own just as New York’s problems this year should be the only thing on Judge’s mind.

The two sides can work it out on the field when they meet to wrap up the 2022 season.