Rivera “as comfortable as he can be right now” with Dustin Hopkins

The Washington Football Team has had their hands full with kicker Dustin Hopkins. Going into his seventh season as Washington’s kicker, Hopkins had a world of controversy surrounding him because of his performance. For years, Washington fans and media alike have wondered why no competition was brought in for Hopkins during training camps, and it seems as if Washington is generally comfortable where they’re at with him. However, if there was ever a question about what the current coaching regime thinks of Hopkins, Rivera does not seem very concerned about the situation:

“As comfortable as I can be right now. It’s that old saying, “it’s not a problem until it’s a problem.” We’re going to go with him. We’re going to ride with him because he got hot last year at the end of the year and really started to kick well. Hopefully, he’ll continue to work, continue to work through those situations and we can hopefully get him hot, and we’ll be fine.” – Rivera on how comfortable he is with Dustin Hopkins.

So, no, Dustin Hopkins’ job is not in jeopardy, if you listen to Rivera tell it. Even after one of the wildest missed kicks you’d ever see this past Saturday against the Baltimore Ravens. However, what stands out is “it’s not a problem until it’s a problem.” For Rivera, the pressure will probably begin to mount with Hopkins after a couple of missed field goals directly contribute to a win or loss difference.

I do want to be clear here, I am writing this to say that Hopkins should be stripped of his livelihood and get fired, but I continue to beg the question that everyone else has asked a million times already: If Ron Rivera has preached competition throughout the off-season amongst the entire roster, how is it that the kicker position goes unchallenged given Hopkins’ history?