Ron Rivera had part of his halftime routine worked out pregame. Regardless of how the first half went, he, the team doctors and head athletic trainer Ryan Vermillion would get the team’s first-year coach an IV once everyone got settled in the locker room, a measure he’d take to deal with the effects of his ongoing battle with squamous cell cancer.
But he knew there would be loose ends he’d have to deal with after kickoff, and one was what football circumstance his group would be in after 30 minutes.
Turns out, it wasn’t an overly great one.