Jay Gruden says Redskins have no QB controversy, so why is RG3 still around?
Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins completed 20 of his 31 pass attempts for 210 yards and a touchdown in the fourth quarter of Thursday’s game against the NFC East rival New York Giants. Not too shabby, right?
Well, not exactly. The Giants already had the game well in hand with a 25-6 lead when Cousins went under center for the first time in the final frame, and to that point the fourth-year QB was 9-of-18 for 116 yards and a pair of interceptions.
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As Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith astutely pointed out on Twitter, Cousins now has 23 career interceptions, matching Robert Griffin III — the former No. 2 overall pick who was listed as inactive for the third straight week.
Adding insult to, well, insult, Cousins has thrown more career interceptions than touchdowns, while Griffin at least has 40 touchdown passes and 8,097 yards — roughly 4,500 more than Cousins — to show for his 23 career interceptions.
And yet, when asked about his QB’s performance, Redskins coach Jay Gruden told reporters after the 32-21 loss, “No. No. Kirk was fine. Like I said, we’ve got to play better around him. There is no quarterback controversy whatsoever.”
Running back Matt Jones’ fourth-quarter fumble in the red zone didn’t help, but the Redskins did average 4.4 yards per carry. Likewise, the defense wasn’t so bad, considering it got off the field on 8 of 12 third downs, held the Giants to 2.7 yards a carry and faced three extra possessions as a result of the turnovers.
Even if there was a quarterback controversy, it appears Colt McCoy would be next in line, since Griffin remains inactive after being cleared to play following a concussion in the preseason. It makes you wonder, as we did on Twitter.
The Redskins have reportedly discussed either trading or cutting Griffin, which makes sense when your third-string QB earns $6.7 million. Maybe the Washington brass is waiting for a team desperate enough to replace an injured quarterback that they’d gamble on Griffin. But given his history and a contract kicker that guarantees his $16.2 million salary in 2016 if he finishes the season injured, the trade market isn’t likely to heat up when a Matt Cassel can be had for cheap.
So, if there is no quarterback controversy, they should do Griffin the favor of cutting him now, if only to save him from watching Redskins games this season.
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Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
