Su’a Cravens surprised his teammates by walking away Sunday, but if he wanted to walk back in, they’d welcome him back.
Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins echoed the empathetic notes of coach Jay Gruden, saying Cravens would be immediately embraced if he returned.
“He’s got to do what’s best for him, for his family,” Cousins said during his weekly appearance on 106.7 The Fan. “And I want to give him space to make that decision. He knows that we’re behind him, we’re supporting him. He’s a teammate of ours. He’s made a lot of plays for us, he is a great player, has a bright future.”
“And if he feels like coming back and helping our team is what he wants to do, we would welcome him with open arms and want him to help us however he can. We’re going to give him his time, though, and let him do what he needs to do, give him his space. And hopefully it can all work out and he can get back and be in a good place and be ready to help us here shortly.”
The team has placed him on the exempt/left squad list, after he surprised teammates by telling them Saturday night he wanted to retire. The second-year safety discussed it with team officials Sunday, and they’re currently giving him time. And when Cousins was asked about the strain on players, he offered some old school rub-some-dirt-on-it advice.
“Nobody’s ever comfortable, nobody ever feels safe, none of us feel like we’ve got it made or figured out,” Cousins said. “You have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, and that is a tough reality of this league. And I think when I was on the outside as a young person or as a college athlete, hoping to someday be in the NFL, you don’t realize how much of a grind and how challenging this league can be, and how much it will test you not just physically but mentally and emotionally. . . .
“You know, you have to be tough to last in this league. And it’ll make you question, ‘Do I want to do this? Do I have what it takes?’ But as coach [Mike, coiner of phrases] Shanahan always said, tough times don’t last, tough people do. And I believe that if you choose to be a tough person and stick through it and fight it out, usually good things happen in the end and you’ll proud of the fact that you did.”
In his social media statement, Cravens referring to finding what makes him happy and “get my mental right.”