Jay Gruden joined Grant & Danny Wednesday, they of course had to ask him about his Twitter antics Monday night via the Eagles’ struggles and the beef with RGIII, which some outside DC may not have fully understood.
But within that, Danny asked Gruden to go a little more in-depth on what he meant by RGIII ‘not being prepared’ and sarcastically apologizing for the staff not doing enough – and how they could’ve resurrected Griffin after the 2013 season.
And Gruden basically explained that the pieces were in place, but Griffin wasn’t the right final piece.
“We tried our best. I coached with Sean (McVay) in the UFL and he was on my brother's staff for a year, so I made him offensive coordinator to try to marry some of the concepts we had with Kyle (Shanahan) and myself, and what I wanted to bring to the table, so it was a smooth transition for everybody to try to do what he did well,” Gruden said, “and it just never worked out, never materialized. Robert had that injury and wanted to be more of a pocket passer, but that doesn't happen overnight. He went to Baylor didn't have a lot of West Coast concepts, it was more of a one read-type and run – which he was is very successful at, can't argue that. His rookie year, 7-7, Rookie of the Year, had some splash plays with some very good games, can’t argue that – but it just did not transition to Year 2, 3, 4, or 4. For whatever reason, he just wasn't as good as the guys we had in the building.”
That specifically was Kirk Cousins, who was drafted in the fourth round the same year RGIII was No. 2 overall, and became the full-time starter for good in 2015.
“When you’re coaching football, you have to play the best player in your building at every position, not just quarterback, and it wasn't just me who made that decision, it was everybody in the building,” Gruden said.
“Everybody was on board that Kirk and Colt (McCoy) were better fits for what we were trying to do, and maybe he lost a step with the zone reads; those can dry out from time-to-time, and after the zone reads, what are you gonna do? You're gonna have to throw the ball in 3rd and 5 or 3rd and 8, throw the ball to come back and win when you’re down by two touchdowns. That just wasn't what he was good at, at that time; other guys were better than him, and that was the only reason we made the change.”
And without re-legislating all the coulda-woulda-shoulda of the situation, well, it’s fair RGIII holds a grudge (given Robert’s proclivities), but Gruden stands his ground with tongue in cheek.
“I think everybody could see that, and you can look at it now…I mean, Kirk was, and is, just a better passer, a better player, and he's proven that,” Gruden said. “He’s made a lot of money playing quarterback, and I think we made the right decision…but I don't know, I could be wrong.”