Redskins coach Jay Gruden says he’ll be “sick” about the way his team lost to the Texans on Sunday and it’s not hard to understand why.
Two fumbles in the red zone, a blocked punt and a blocked extra point were just some of the reasons why Gruden’s debut was a 17-6 loss. One of the fumbles came when quarterback Robert Griffin III tripped while taking a snap and still tried to hand the ball off to Alfred Morris. J.J. Watt came up with it instead, part of a day that showed why he just got a big contract extension, and it marred a fairly good day for Griffin, who took a few more big hits over the course of the afternoon, throwing the ball.
Griffin was 29-of-37 for 267 yards, although Griffin’s accuracy wasn’t put to much use on deeper passes. While there were plenty of other problems for Washington, the quarterback said he needs to improve for a better result in the future.
“I don’t think them coming out and playing the coverage they did led to us having six points on the board. I think that was more us hurting ourselves. Like I said, I have to play better for us to win football games,” Griffin said, via the Washington Post. “What you’re trying to say is everybody knew Jordan was going to shoot the fadeaway, but Jordan still shot the fadeaway. We’ll find ways to get our guys in a position to make those plays down the field even if they are playing those coverages, but we aren’t going to come out next week and heave ho and throw 30 deep balls.”
Gruden didn’t disagree, saying that he saw a lot to like from the quarterback but “when you’re grading your quarterback and you get a loss, you don’t get a very good grade."It’s the ninth straight failing grade for the Redskins dating back to last season, a streak that will have Gruden in need of a prescription if it continues much longer.