Jeremy Reaves would 'run through a brick wall' for Ron Rivera originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Back in early November, head coach Ron Rivera had a choice to make. With Landon Collins done for the year with a torn Achilles, he could have looked to the free-agent market -- specifically Eric Reid -- for a reinforcement.
He didn't and instead gave safety Jeremy Reaves the chance to earn the spot.
Reaves began the season on Washington's practice squad, but by the end of the season, was starting against Tampa Bay in the playoffs. It's a journey Reaves will never forget, and he's forever grateful to Rivera and the coaching staff for believing in him.
"Coach [Ron] Rivera and [Defensive coordinator Jack] Del Rio, my DBs coach, Coach [Chris] Harris, they played a huge role in that. Like I said, after the Dallas game, Coach Rivera could've went any different route. I'm a practice-squad guy that he doesn't know, all he has is film of me from last year that was very scarce, and I was a different player last year than I am this year," Reaves said during Washington's locker cleanout on Sunday. "So he put his full faith and confidence in me, and my D.C. did as well, as I did my position coach. They trusted me, which says a lot about them, and I think that says a lot about the work that I was putting in when I was here on the practice squad."
As Reaves said, Rivera didn't have to give him a chance on the field. With no prior connection between the two, he could have easily gone another route in terms of a replacement.
Yet, Rivera's mentality since he arrived in Washington was that the young players deserve a chance. In 2020, his goal was to evaluate the roster and see what he had. That meant giving Reaves an opportunity to makes plays for the team and play a valuable role.
Understanding that, the safety has promised to do whatever it takes to make Rivera's decision look like the right one.
"Awesome, man. Again, for a head coach to put faith in a guy that was a practice-squad guy and to give him an opportunity, I'd run through a brick wall for Coach. I'll give Coach everything I got because he gave me an opportunity and he didn't have to do that. He had a guy that he knew, that played in the system, that he was comfortable with, and he went with me," Reaves said. "So, like I said, I'll give everything up for him. I'm super thankful, I'm super grateful for every opportunity that was given to me this year because it didn't have to be like that. I tried to play balls to the wall for that man."
Obviously, Reaves deserves some credit here as well. Rivera gave him a shot, but he ran with it and established himself as a piece of the defense. Starting in a playoff game is no small accomplishment.
Coming a long way from his time as an undrafted free agent, Reaves credits his work ethic as what has allowed him to find success. Whether he was on a practice squad or in the starting 11, his attitude and preparation were always the same.
2020 showed him that as long as he keeps that mentality, good things will come.
"Nine weeks ago I was a practice squad guy fighting for a job every day, and yesterday I was playing for a team that was fighting in the playoffs," Reaves said. "So it just kind of goes to show you that persistence is key ... and your opportunity will come as long as you just continue to grind and continue to keep your head down and keep working."
