Washington Redskins Coach Jay Gruden offered little clarity as to whether Robert Griffin III would remain the starter following Sunday’s 17-13 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, when the third-year quarterback threw for 106 yards and no touchdowns on 11-for-19 passing. Griffin did not throw an interception but was sacked five times, including on the Redskins’ final play from scrimmage to force a fumble and seal the win for San Francisco at Levi’s Stadium.
Griffin predictably was the trending topic during Gruden’s conference cal Monday afternoonl, which lasted roughly 20 minutes. The first-year coach briefly addressed other deficiencies that conspired to drop the Redskins to 3-8, but he repeatedly fielded questions about Griffin’s role for the final five games.
“There’s a chance at a lot of positions, yes,” Gruden said about making a quarterback change. “It’s Monday afternoon at 3 o’clock, and right now we have every intent for Robert, but we’ll look at the tape and make our evaluations here shortly.”
Gruden indicated he would speak with Griffin, as well as backups Colt McCoy and Kirk Cousins, before making a final decision that could come by Wednesday. The Redskins have lost all three games since Griffin came back from a dislocated ankle, including an embarrassing 27-7 result coming off a bye to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, then 1-8, at FedEx Field.
Cousins initially replaced an injured Griffin as the starter, but when the 2012 fourth-round pick underperformed considerably over five starts, Gruden made the move to McCoy. The 2010 third-round pick came off the bench to spark a 19-17 victory over the Tennessee Titans in Week 7 before starting against the Dallas Cowboys on “Monday Night Football” and directing a 20-17 upset of Washington’s archrival.
“Just from a passing-game standpoint, we had some issues,” Gruden said of Sunday’s defeat. “…We feel like we have the weapons. Obviously [tight end] Jordan Reed not playing hurt a little bit. But still, to have 100 or 80 yards passing is unheard of in this day and age and with the receivers that we have, and we have to figure out something.”
E-mail a Redskins question to mike.jones@washpost.com, with the subject “Mailbag question,” and it might be answered Tuesday in the Mailbag.
More from The Post:
D.C. Sports Bog: The Redskins’ misery, in five numbers
Reid: Griffin’s time running out | Fancy Stats: They need a better option
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