The story line is not going away. The Washington Redskins are a complete mess four weeks into the season and it centers around a lame duck head coach in Jay Gruden and a rookie quarterback he was forced to draft, Dwayne Haskins.
Les Carpenter of The Washington Post highlights how tensed the situation is in Redskins Park between QB and coach.
“A person with knowledge of Gruden’s thinking has confirmed that the head coach did not want Haskins, and while Haskins has publicly downplayed any suggestion that he wasn’t Gruden’s choice, a person close to the rookie quarterback said that Haskins has sensed that to be the case.”
Les Carpenter/ The Washington Post
Reportedly, Gruden and the Redskins coaching staff preferred to draft the more pro-ready Daniel Jones. However, the New York Giants took Jones sixth overall in the first round of this year’s NFL Draft. The Redskins picked Haskins 15th reportedly against the wishes of Gruden.
A large factor was that Haskins was not pro-ready, in large due to him only playing in 14 games while at Ohio State and coming from a system not pro ready unlike Jones.
Haskins has been a pro about the situation, even publicly shooting down any suggestions that Gruden did not want him or that his time under the coach has been awkward. The Redskins have insisted Haskins is not ready to have the reins of the offense turned over to him, instead playing Case Keenum ahead of him as Colt McCoy has been recovering from a broken leg he suffered last season.
Then Week 4 happened. Against the Giants, Keenum labored through the first quarter with a foot injury. He missed throws and was off schedule, forcing Gruden’s hand to turn to Haskins, because McCoy was not active.
Haskins struggled through his NFL debut, throwing three interceptions, including a pick-six to Giants safety Jabrill Peppers in route to a 24-3 loss.
This week, Gruden has yet to name a starting quarterback. Presumably while he awaits the health of Keenum’s foot and McCoy’s leg. McCoy took some first team reps Thursday while Keenum was limited. If either is healthy, it’s presumable they would start Sunday against the New England Patriots.
If both are healthy, Haskins could strongly be inactive for the game. And thus will bring up an entirely different story line for the upcoming week for the disastrous season of the Redskins.
