For an offensive coordinator who watched his unit fall apart in the second half of Sunday’s 27-10 loss to the Chargers, Bengals offensive coordinator Jay Gruden is having a pretty good Monday.
We’ve already heard that the Redskins are would like to speak to Gruden about their head coaching vacancy and they have plenty of company. Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the Titans, Lions and Vikings have also requested permission to interview Gruden, which leaves the Browns as the only outlier among teams still looking for a head coach.
Gruden has interviewed for head coaching openings the last two offseasons, but wound up returning to the Bengals each time. The Bengals have gone to the playoffs in each of Gruden’s three seasons running the offense, but we’d imagine teams interested in talking to him will also be interested to hear his thoughts on why the team has managed a total of 33 points in their three losses during those trips.
There’s no word yet on which openings Gruden will interview for or when those interviews will take place, but it’s clear that Sunday’s struggles didn’t do much to hurt Gruden’s stature in the eyes of teams looking for a new head coach.
UPDATE 12:39 p.m. ET: Gruden confirmed, via Joe Reedy of the Cincinnati Enquirer, that the Redskins, Vikings and Titans have requested permission for interviews.