It might be prudent and right for Mike Shanahan, coach of the 3-6 Redskins to declare the rest of the season about evaluating for the future.
But that doesn’t mean the people he’s evaluating have to like it.
A number of Redskins players weren’t pleased with the comments, whether they were true or not.
“You have a lot of guys that want to win now, people toward the end of their careers who have been here a long time, haven’t been to the playoffs in a long time,” veteran Lorenzo Alexander said, via Mike Wise of the Washington Post. “And ultimately that’s what you play for, to go to a Super Bowl.
“Bein’ 3-6 really [stinks] because right now we’re on the outside looking in. . . . I’m not thinkin’ about next year. That’s an offseason thing for me. But you know it’s hard when you see yourself in that type of position and your head coach is saying those types of things. It’s disappointing.”
Two other players, who didn’t want to be identified, also told Wise they were bothered by the remarks.
As we pointed out last night, someone ought to evaluate Shanahan as well. His 14-27 record gives him a lower winning percentage than either Jim Zorn or Steve Spurrier, guys who were regarded as over their heads.
Shanahan was offered a chance to explain his comments afterward, but declined through a team spokesman. In many ways, the Redskins are stuck with him, as he’s in the middle of a five-year contract, and they don’t have a first-round pick until 2015 after going to get Robert Griffin III. Making the decision to make the play for RG3 means you’re committed to that course, and the guy who sanctioned it.
So for Shanahan to declare this team over is easy to perceive as insulating himself from criticism, and the guys he has to coach for the next two months might not necessarily appreciate taking the fall for him.