Rivera is not concerned with the receiver position if Samuel remains unavailable

This Thursday, Washington head coach Ron Rivera spoke with the local media, answering several questions surrounding newly acquired receiver Curtis Samuel. Samuel, who did not play at all in the preseason, is nursing a groin injury he sustained back in June. Although it’s been concerning from an outsider’s perceptive, many fans and media members are worried that, while Rivera has been downplaying the seriousness of his unavailability, week one is approaching, and Samuel has not been a full practice participant since June. But again, Rivera remains unconcerned and has a bit of optimism for Samuel’s availability for next week’s practice:

“That speed and quickness coming back. That’s one thing that’s really a big part of his game, is how quick he is, how fast he is. He was catching balls out there on the side and looks like that’s really coming back as well. Just getting the rhythm back, that’s a big plus as well. Like I said, I’m interested and excited to see him on Monday as we integrate him back into what we do.” – Rivera on what he saw change with Samuel this past week.

Further, Rivera doesn’t think that Samuel was affected by the physical ramp-up to get cleared to play:

“No, I don’t think that was a struggle for him coming back. You miss 10 days and you’re really not supposed to be out doing a lot. So, unfortunately, now he’s working himself back up and that’s probably the big thing that we’ve had the last couple of weeks. It was as John [Keim] said, it was the ramp-up period. We had to get his conditioning on par with his work. You didn’t want him out there doing something that he’s not ready to do.”

The optimism exists for Rivera; however, he is still not concerned with the time Samuel can potentially miss because of the depth that the team has built up at the position:

“Yeah, I mean the truth of the matter is if he was ready to go great. If he wasn’t, I’m not as concerned just because of who we have. I feel very comfortable with that receiver room. I think it’s a good room. There’s a lot of speed. There’s a lot of talent. Curtis brings a little something extra and you’d miss him obviously, but we have guys that can do some of the things that he does.” – Rivera on if he ever became concerned with Samuel’s status leading up to Week 1

Receivers like Adam Humphries, Dyami Brown, and Cam Sims can fill in if Curtis Samuel is unavailable throughout the season. But, of course, we would all prefer Samuel, and I am sure that this injury has been much more frustrating for the person directly impacted by it than anyone else, Curtis. Monday is a day that Rivera is looking forward to, but Wednesday and Thursday are the most important days of next week for players on the injury list.