Redskins coach Mike Shanahan reportedly ruffled some feathers in the Redskins locker room when he said after Sunday’s loss that the rest of the season would be used to evaluate players to see who would be part of the team’s future.
Some felt that Shanahan’s words indicated a shift away from trying to win games, a notion Shanahan tried to reject on Monday and again on Tuesday when he spoke to the players about what he said. Defensive lineman Kedric Golston said that Shanahan got his message across in a better fashion on Tuesday and tackle Trent Williams said he thought too much was being made of the coach’s words in the first place.
“We didn’t take it out of context,” Williams said, via Tarik El-Bashir of CSNWashington.com. “I think [the media] made a bigger deal about it than what we thought it was. We’re all good here.”
Linebacker London Fletcher echoed Williams’ sentiment. He said that he’s seen the culture around the team change for the better since Shanahan has been in charge and that there’s no divide within the team as a result of anything Shanahan said.
“He clarified what he meant, what he was saying, how it wasn’t portrayed the way it needed to be,” Fletcher said, via Grant Paulsen of 106.7 The Fan. “He let us know exactly how he feels about this season and the guys that are in this locker room. There’s no divide.”
Shanahan’s clarification on Monday didn’t ring as particularly persuasive, but the message to the players is pretty much the same no matter how the coach tries to present it. The players in Washington need to play better or they’ll be plying their trade somewhere else.