Kirk Cousins will be Washington’s starting quarterback on Sunday against Atlanta, but he says there’s no quarterback controversy.
Cousins told reporters today that he believes Robert Griffin III is the franchise quarterback, and he expects Griffin to get his starting job back in 2014 and beyond.
“Even as I start this week, I believe that this is Robert’s team going forward into next season,” Cousins said. “The reason they’re resting Robert is because this is his team, he is the franchise quarterback. They wouldn’t rest him if that wasn’t the case. So my job is to help this team get a win against Atlanta and then the last two weeks after that. I’m going to try to excel in my role as a backup quarterback to Robert.”
That’s probably true, but the reality is that it’s way too early to say anything about who the quarterback in Washington will be in 2014 because right now we have no idea who the coach in Washington will be in 2014. And if Cousins plays better in the next three games than Griffin has played over the last 13 games, it’s at least possible that some new coach could come in and open up a quarterback competition in 2014.
More likely, however, is that Griffin will return to his spot atop the depth chart when 2014 begins. And if Cousins plays well enough over the next three games to show that he deserves to be an NFL starter, Washington will probably use him as trade bait, rather than move him ahead of Griffin.