Loyalty Can't Be Questioned

"Nobody wants to be the team that doesn't get Joe back to the Super Bowl or back to the playoffs," Jansen said. "I don't know what Joe wants to do personally, but I like playing for him. He's been good for me and my family. And I would feel terrible knowing that I couldn't help him out if this was his last year."

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Chris Samuels pulled Gibbs aside after the loss Sunday and essentially apologized for being part of a group that was unable to close the door on the Eagles, the Giants and Green Bay.

"Coach Gibbs is the best coach I've ever had," he said yesterday. "I respect him. I admire him in a lot of ways. He definitely still has the passion. A lot of people want to question that, but I think he's a great coach. I think we need to pick our game up. The plays that they designed, we need to execute 'em. And we didn't do it."

Not that anyone needed to be reminded after Sunday's debacle and Monday's inquisition, but these are delicate times for Gibbs and this franchise. Anything short of the playoffs in a weak NFC, 7-9 or worse, cannot be viewed as progress.

As he walked into the media room in Ashburn yesterday in a smart tweed jacket and black-collared dress shirt, the strain was visible. He began with a big sigh into the microphone and sounded like a man with more than a loss on his mind.

"Well, um, like I normally do on . . . We . . . Um, uh, what day is it?" Gibbs said. "Monday," the room answered back. "Just checkin'. Seems like I don't know where I am. I'm drifting here in some place."

The more time spent around a decent, good man like Gibbs, the more his players' deepening feelings about him become completely understandable: It's not just about what happened Sunday. This is Joe Gibbs.