After a 45-10 blowout loss to the Dallas Cowboys, the Washington Commanders have fired defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio.

Head coach Ron Rivera confirmed that Del Rio was relieved of his duties. 

Including the loss to the Cowboys, the 4-8 Commanders have lost three in a row. Their defense ranks worst in points allowed and 29th in yards allowed. The ranking follows a year after they were in the top 10 in those categories respectively.  

The Commanders have also not intercepted a pass in the past six games and have allowed a league-high 49 pass players of 20 or more yards, which led to defensive backs coach Brent Vieselmeyer being relieved of his duties. 

Del Rio has coached in the NFL since 1997. He was the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2003 to 2011 and the Raiders from 2015 to 2017. He also had defensive coordinator stints with the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos.

The Commanders will face the Miami Dolphins on December 3.  

There is now further controversy surrounding the Washington Commanders after defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio had to apologize for making insensitive comments about the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Del Rio took to social media to apologize for calling the riots “a dustup.”

The comment came in response to the news about the upcoming federal hearings about the events on Jan. 6. Del Rio tweeted, “Would love to understand ‘the whole story about why the summer of riots, looting, burning and the destruction of personal property is never discussed but this is??? #CommonSense,” referring to the events in the summer of 2020 after George Floyd’s death.

When asked about these tweets on Wednesday, Del Rio told reporters, “Why are we not looking into those things – if we’re going to talk about is – why are we not looking into those things? I can look at images on the TV, people’s livelihoods are being destroyed, businesses are being burned down, no problem. And then we have a dustup at the Capitol, nothing burned down, and we’re going to make that a major deal. I just think it’s kind of two standards, and if we apply the same standard and we’re going to be reasonable with each other, let’s have a discussion. That’s all it was. Let’s have a discussion.”

Del Rio walked back his comments in his statement on Wednesday stating, “I made comments earlier today in referencing the attack that took place on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. Referencing that situation as a dust-up was irresponsible and negligent and I am sorry.”

This is not the first time that Del Rio has come under fire for his comments on political events. When he was accused of being a Trump supporter on Twitter, he tweeted out, “I’m 100% for America, if you’re not you can kiss my A$$.”

It does not seem as though Del Rio’s comments have become a problem for his players and fellow coaches. Commanders’ defensive tackle Johnathan Allen said, “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion,” Allen said. “Some guys decide to share it on Twitter; some guys don’t. You can have a difference of opinion and still respect one another. I feel that’s what our country is about, that’s what this team is about. I don’t care about his opinion as long as he shows up every day and works hard. That’s what I want from my defensive coordinator.”