The Washington Commanders franchise appears headed in a new direction under owner Josh Harris. However, scars remain from the drama-filled past of the organization under its previous owner, Dan Snyder. This week, old wounds have gotten thrust into the limelight due to the feud between former head coach Jay Gruden and quarterback Robert Griffin III (RG3).
The saga’s latest chapter began with a tweet by Gruden on X during the Philadelphia Eagles’ 32-9 playoff loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“If I ever put a QB through what Philly is putting Jalen [Hurts], I apologize. Pick up a blitz!” Gruden wrote.
Griffin felt obligated to replay with an image of himself perplexed with the caption, “Say Whatttt???“
That sparked an exchange between the coach and player on X throughout the night.
Gruden became Washington’s coach in 2014, replacing the fired Mike Shanahan. Gruden inherited a promising but damaged young QB in Griffin. The union didn’t last long.
Griffin never quite recovered from the torn ACL he suffered during his 2012 Offensive Rookie of the Year season. After another down season, Griffin was benched ahead of the 2015 season in favor of Kirk Cousins, whom Washington drafted the same year they selected Griffin.
It appeared Gruden had fun with the spat with Griffin on Monday. Then, the former coach elaborated on the situation during an appearance on 106.7 The Fan’s “Grant and Danny,” touching on the decision to go with Cousins over Griffin.
Gruden explained Griffin struggled with the zone reads, and he struggled to throw the football from the pocket, particularly trailing by “two touchdowns.”
Meanwhile, Cousins and Colt McCoy were better fits for Gruden’s system, prompting the team to move on from Griffin.
“I think everybody could see that, and you can look at it now. … “I mean, Kirk was, and is, just a better passer, a better player, and he’s proven that,” Gruden said. “He’s made a lot of money playing quarterback, and I think we made the right decision, but I don’t know, I could be wrong.”
Griffin then hit back on his podcast, telling his side of the story.
The former QB dug out a situation he had in 2014, where he claims Gruden challenged him to call out his teammates in a press conference. After that, Griffin faced backlash led by the national media.
Griffin said Gruden “didn’t have the balls” to stick up for him. The situation led to a team meeting in which Gruden reprimanded Griffin in front of his teammates and the media in a press conference.
After seeing Griffin’s podcast post, Gruden responded with some back-and-forth. At one point, Gruden posted in a since-deleted tweet, “You weren’t good enough. Kirk was better. Cleveland didn’t want you. Baltimore did either. Quit blaming me.”
Gruden closed the book on the saga with Griffin during his “Talking The Point Show.”
Gruden said it was on him for not remembering instructing Griffin to call out his teammates. But he admitted he handled Griffin’s situation in his press conference. He was a young head coach.
“My job as a head coach is to get the best out of my players,” Gruden said. “Obviously, I didn’t work out with Robert, and he feels like I let him down, and for that, that’s on me. Moving forward, I’m sure Robert has more important things to talk about, as do I. … At the end of the day, I tried my best to make RG3 a good player and help him out, but it didn’t work out. Now it’s time to move on.”
Griffin agreed he wouldn’t continue the back and forth with Gruden. He also extended an invite for Gruden to appear on his show.
Hopefully, this will finally put an end to the madness. It was entertaining for fans and former Washington players. But the bickering between Griffin and Gruden doesn’t help either. They’re both casualties of the Dan Snyder era.
