Washington coach Jay Gruden is not ready to name a starter, and he sounds like he’s getting worn down by the criticism about his ongoing quarterback saga.
After Saturday night’s game, in which Kirk Cousins started after Robert Griffin III was denied medical clearance just hours after Gruden claimed he’d already been given medical clearance, Gruden said it’s not fair to the team to suggest that they don’t know what they’re doing.
“We’re all as confused as you are, and people have to understand this has nothing to do with the Redskins. I know people want to make it out that we’re incompetent but we’re not. This has nothing to do with us. It was totally independent doctor, a verbal thing he said with our doctor, and then all of a sudden the written statement was different, the written report was different so we followed proper course and did what we thought was right for Robert,” Gruden said.
Asked if there’s a quarterback controversy on his team, Gruden said there isn’t.
“I’m not going to announce anything. There’s no controversy,” Gruden said. “As far as who’s starting at every position, we’re going to evaluate that as a staff. I’m not going to make any announcements right now, that’s for sure.”
But the mere fact that Gruden won’t announce his starter is why there is, in fact, a quarterback controversy. And the fact that there’s a quarterback controversy after a long offseason in which Gruden insisted there wouldn’t be a quarterback controversy is why the team looks incompetent.