Oh, Jay Gruden. Why do you continually provide juicy headline material?
The head coach of the Washington Redskins made things worse for himself and the franchise following Saturday’s preseason win over the Baltimore Ravens.
Gruden won’t name a starting quarterback to open the season, even though he has insisted all throughout the winter, spring and summer that there was no quarterback controversy in Washington.
“I’m not going to announce anything. There’s no controversy,” Gruden said (via Ravens website). “As far as who’s starting at every position, we’re going to evaluate that as a staff. I’m not going to make any announcements right now, that’s for sure.”
As you may know by now, Robert Griffin III was shelved after an independent neurologist deemed him unfit to play in the game due to lingering effects of a concussion suffered the week before. RG3 himself is rumored to believe he didn’t even have one, and the players on Washington’s roster are just as confused as he is about the supposed non-existent quarterback controversy.
Yet Gruden is scratching his head wondering why everyone thinks Washington is “incompetent.”
“We’re all as confused as you are, and people have to understand this has nothing to do with the Redskins. I know people want to make it out that we’re incompetent but we’re not. This has nothing to do with us. It was totally independent doctor, a verbal thing he said with our doctor, and then all of a sudden the written statement was different, the written report was different so we followed proper course and did what we thought was right for Robert,” Gruden said.
Everybody’s confused in Washington, it seems.
Remember, it was less than a week ago that Gruden himself made it clear that Griffin, who practiced all week with the club, was his starter going forward. No ifs, ands or buts about it. Suddenly he’s singing a different tune.
Perhaps it has something to do with a report from ESPN’s Ed Werder, who said general manager Scot McCloughan is ready to “move on” from Griffin.
One #NFL source who knows #Washington GM Scot McCloughan well says he's determined to change team culture and must move on from @RGIII
— Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) August 29, 2015
The entire thing is a hot mess.
The very fact that Gruden cannot say without a doubt that Griffin will start when he is cleared is evidence enough to say there is a quarterback controversy in Washington.