Jay Gruden entered the 2019 season the odds-on favorite to be the first head coach fired from the NFL this year. One week into the season, the Washington Redskins head coach has already taken his first steps of cashing in those bets by benching soon-to-be Hall of Fame running back Adrian Peterson.
Gruden’s decision to make Peterson inactive against the Philadelphia Eagles didn’t go over well with his own locker room, let alone the fans, and some Redskins media. Before the game, an NFL Network report stated veterans on the team were “not happy” with Peterson not dressing.
Redskins right tackle Morgan Moses criticized his coach’s decision, calling it a “slap in the face.”
Moses wasn’t alone with public chastising of the move. Running back Chris Thompson added he expected AP to be out there. Former Redskins players, Clinton Portis and London Fletcher also bashed the decision.
Gruden’s explanation was clear, yet it didn’t hold weight. Sure, keeping four running backs on the active game day roster may be a bit excessive in most cases. Having two first-and-second down running backs active and neither being able to contribute on special teams, usually doesn’t happen. Except, the Redskins weren’t in an usual situation.
Peterson is not a special teams player. He’s not the best pass protection back either. And sure, his presence on the field may alter what Gruden and offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell prefer to do with the offense. But, all things considered, there was room for Peterson on the field.
Derrius Guice, the second-year running back who got the nod as the featured back, was coming off a torn ACL during his rookie season. Guice hadn’t played in a regular season game prior to Sunday’s game. He had just a couple of preseason snaps last year before he suffered the knee injury. And with the team being precaution during this year’s preseason, he only carried the football 11 times — all in Week 3 of the preseason.
Apparently that was enough for Gruden to see. Guice was tabbed the featured back over Peterson, who while 34 years of age, was coming off a 1,000-yard season last year while leading the Redskins with seven rushing touchdowns. He was the team’s offensive MVP.
Expecting a young running back coming off a major knee injury to jump in and be a heavy load back was a bit premature to say the least. It didn’t help that Guice’s NFL debut turned out to be a dud, as he was limited to 18 yards on 10 carries.
What made matters worse, Guice suffered an injury on his non-ACL knee. Hate to say it, but what was Gruden expecting would happen?
And all for the threat of Eagles’ running back Darren Sproles on special teams. That was the explanation Gruden defended the decision on.
It’s Adrian Peterson, tho.
The guy who bailed out the Redskins last year when Guice went down and kept Samaje Perine from being the featured back. Peterson was the best offensive player on the team last year. How could a guy, not injured, be that and then be in street clothes at the start of the next season?
Gruden’s gamble, yes it was a gamble, betting on Guice could withstand being a featured back this early from his recovery from an ACL tear, blew up in the coach’s face.
The Redskins built a 17-0 lead in the first half behind stellar passing from its quarterback Case Keenum. But with momentum shifting and the Eagles rallying, the Redskins offense was stifled. A large reason for that was the lack of a running game.
Guice was hurt. Third-down back Chris Thompson couldn’t establish himself running inside. And the Redskins were forced to attempt to sustain a lead through the air. They failed.
The Eagles outscored the Redskins 32-10 after being down 17 points. First thing to come to mind was they could have used Peterson.
Following the loss, an annoyed Gruden offered a more baffling tidbit for not playing Peterson.
“He’s a first and second-down back. So is Derrius,” Gruden said, via The Washington Post. “So, really, what do we have? About 20 first downs a game. Probably eight of those are passes, 12 of those might be runs, and Derrius can handle those 12. So if we have a game where we think we can run the ball 55 times in a game in an I-formation, then sure, I’ll get him up.”
Um, lining up in I-form and handing off the ball to Peterson was exactly what the Redskins needed Sunday.
The line drawn in the sand by Gruden about Peterson got erase in just one week. Guice had an MRI on his knee, and first word is he suffered a sprained meniscus. He will miss some time, yet the exact time frame is unclear.
In the meantime, Jay Gruden will have to go back on his words and turn to Peterson — the run the football 55 times, I-formation back. The coach is already going back on his words a bit, as he recently told JP Finlay of NBC Sports Washington he is “very comfortable” with Peterson playing.
“I’m very comfortable [Guice and Peterson] are 1 and 1a to me. They’re the same position. If something happens and Derrius can’t go, we’re happy to play AP and not even bat an eye. Hopefully Derrius will be fine, and eventually, there could be a situation we dress both of them and Chris Thompson. It’s just a matter of where we are special teams wise that given week.”
It’s hard to come back from how he initially handled the situation. This is just added to the list of things that has Gruden’s first foot out of the door. He has already whiffed on his first gamble of the season.
His sixth season with just one playoff game. One season with nine wins. None with 10 or more wins. Three starting quarterbacks in three seasons, not to mention Josh Johnson and Mark Sanchez stints.
The countless blown leads or games with lack of adjustments after halftime. The odds are against him to having a seventh season. The handling of Peterson in Week 1 doesn’t endear him to a chorus of critics. And gets everyone singing it’s time for him to go already, in a lame duck season.
