Excuse me? Gruden’s explanations for Cousins’ struggles seem long-winded
|
Version 0 of 1. Let’s start with the wind. “Like I said, also a little windy,” Redskins Coach Jay Gruden explained Sunday evening, assessing the performance of his hand-picked quarterback, who had just thrown a pair of interceptions for the fourth time in four losses. This calls for a glance at wind speeds around the NFL. In Jacksonville, for example, it was 18 mph, according to the official game book. That’s where Brian Hoyer and Blake Bortles combined to throw for 624 yards. The wind speed was 16 mph in New Jersey. That’s where Kirk Cousins went 25 for 43 for 196 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions. It might have been chilly at the Meadowlands, but the wind excuse felt an awful lot like hot air. Gruden came back Monday and calmed the ever-churning civil war within Redskins fandom. The coach said Cousins “didn’t live up to the standards that we set,” that he “needs to play better” and, most importantly, that “I’m not making excuses for anybody; I’m not trying to baby anybody.” Had Gruden said those things Sunday, maybe Redskins fans would have ceased their fratricide for a few hours. But he didn’t. Instead, here’s how he described Cousins’s second interception. “That was like a long punt, actually, on third down and long,” Gruden said. Football Outsider: A closer look at Cousins’s intereception vs. the Jets Well, it was like a 43-yard punt, which is five yards less than Tress Way was averaging, although maybe we’re talking net punting average, in which case it was actually 0.7 yards longer than Way’s average, since there was no return on the play, which you can attribute to the like-a-punt’s excellent hang time, and the way it was cleverly angled toward the sideline. It was a fine like-a-punt, all in all. The point, though, is that Cousins is not a punter, and you’d rather not punt on third down. Or witness Gruden attempting to put Cousins’s struggles in context. “He’s not the only quarterback in history that’s made a poor decision or a poor throw,” Gruden said. “And it won’t be the last time he does it. You know, he’s a young quarterback and he’ll learn from it. And we all will.” Well. Of the 24 quarterbacks who started NFL games Sunday, 12 were 27 or younger. Cousins is 27. No, I don’t think Gruden should be expected to memorize NFL actuarial tables. Yes, Cousins has less game experience than many of these other quarterbacks. But “he’s a young quarterback” doesn’t resonate particularly well at this moment, not when you consider the age of the guy on the bench. Or observe Gruden discussing the challenges facing his quarterback against the Jets. “There’s a lot of things going on pre-snap that he’s got to deal with: getting the formations, the protections and all that,” the coach said. At the risk of burying my e-mail inbox, kindly flash back to last November, when Gruden analyzed the play of a different quarterback after a home loss to Tampa Bay. The quarterback in that game was 23 for 32 for 207 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions — nearly identical to Cousins’s numbers Sunday. After that game, Gruden said his quarterback “had some fundamental flaws,” with footwork that was “below average” and incorrect drops, that he “stepped into pressure” and “read the wrong side of the field a couple of times,” and that “it was not even close to being good enough to what we expect from that quarterback position.” Fair enough. Gruden’s job hinges on his ability to get the quarterback play he wants, and he’s the one paid to judge them. The quarterback that day was sacked six times, despite having a functioning running game and a relatively healthy lineup against a weaker opponent. But it’s an awful big gust from that fiery rhetoric about unacceptable quarterbacking to “he’s a young quarterback,” and “there’s a lot of things going on pre-snap,” and “also a little windy.” Sally Jenkins: Kirk Cousins is running out of rope Gruden doesn’t want to trash his starting quarterback, nor should he. There is nothing to be gained by pinning the loss on Cousins, especially because virtually no one thought Washington could win this game. The plan called for patience, not a Week 6 fire drill. Still, Gruden can’t get away from the things he said about that other quarterback last year, not when Redskins fans are divided into Starks and Lannisters, each looking for inequity in, um, execution. Cousins has 10 career multi-interception games, in which the Redskins have an 0-10 record. He has thrown an interception once every 23.5 attempts in his career, the fourth-worst mark among any quarterback who has thrown at least 25 interceptions this century. He’s tied for sixth in the NFL in multi-interception games since 2013. Stop saying Cousins has a little Rex Grossman in him; it seems that Rex had a little Cousins in him. And yet the coach’s tone so often seems gentle. Cousins’s first interception against the Dolphins was “one of those bad luck things,” according to Gruden. His second interception against the Dolphins involved a mistake by Jordan Reed, “something that, as a receiver, we can’t do,” Gruden said. His first interception against the Giants was “a timing route to Pierre [Garcon] and the corner made a heck of a play.” His second interception against the Falcons was the Ryan Grant play, when “Ryan just got a turf monster and fell down.” Against the Jets, it was “also a little windy.” All these things might be true. It’s also probably true that my daughter couldn’t eat her lunch because the kids next to her were talking too much, and the next day because she spilled her soup, and the day after that because her class arrived late to the cafeteria. At some point, you’re just left with an uneaten lunch. Gruden was back on message Monday, arguing that no one was good enough against the Jets, that Cousins has proven in practice he’s the best man for the job, that drastic changes aren’t the answer. This is the middle ground he should occupy: between publicly removing a quarterback’s spleen and talking about the weather. Cousins would be best-served eliminating two-interception games from his repertoire. Because if this current rate continues, well, you won’t need a weatherman to know which way that wind blows. |