Ron Rivera was non-committal Tuesday when asked who his starting QB will be Sunday, only saying he hasn't decided and won't talk about it.
Jay Gruden joined Chris Russell on Tuesday after that press conference, and agrees with Rooster that Sam needed to be benched on Sunday, and in fact, thinks it might be best for the team, draft position be damned, to start Jacoby Brissett against the Niners.
"Sam hasn't played very good, you can't sugarcoat it at all – and it's not all Sam, obviously, there's a lot of people that have their hands in it, but when the offense struggles moving the ball like they have with Sam starting the last couple weeks, change has to be made," Gruden said. "Jacoby obviously proved that he deserves a little shot to try to spark the offense, and he has the last two weeks, so there's no arguing with the decision to make a move to pull Sam. Now, it's just a decision on the last two games, and I don't think there's really a wrong answer here. I think Jacoby probably right now from a confidence standpoint gives them the best chance to win, because Sam just looks like he's a little out of sorts right now and could probably could use a couple weeks to chill out and get ready for the offseason.
The league has plenty of tape on Howell now, so maybe it's just a matter of adapt and overcome, but is there anything to gain right now by letting him play the last two weeks?
"I just think right now based on the last two weeks production-wise, there's nothing positive to speak of for the offense when Sam has been playing," Gruden said. "You can't put all the blame on Sam, but how does Jacoby make it work so well when he's in there? So I think you got to go with Jacoby and just finish the season out, and then let the people who are going to make the decisions moving forward decide on the next quarterback or Sam's future."
That said, given how Ron Rivera has preached this year about developing Howell, is there anything wrong with the way things have gone down from a coaching standpoint?
"Based on the first 10-12 weeks, Sam did show a lot of progress and shows a lot of potential; he had some really good games and some great moments, so you're just hoping that you continue to build off of that," Gruden said. "Unfortunately, for whatever reason, the last couple weeks, he's taken a major step back. Not climbing up in the pocket, aborting plays too quick, inaccurate throws, throwing into coverage, taking sacks…there are a lot of issues right now. I don't know why, but I think he's just lost confidence and is trying to take matters into his own hands a little bit too much, so I think it's time for Jacoby to go ahead and finish the last two games out."
Gruden still thinks Howell has put a lot of good on tape for the next regime (or others) to evaluate, but at the least, if he stays here, he needs someone to truly compete with him for the job. And, on the draft pick tip, Rooster has said he thinks you owe it to the rest of the team to put the better QB on the field, and Gruden agrees.
"If Jacoby hadn't come in and didn't play very well, I could see going back to Sam, but two weeks in a row, Jacoby put up some pretty damn good tape and had some really good throws," Gruden said. "So clearly, based on the last two weeks, you have to go with him, and I think the locker room sees it. You're not stupid when you're watching the film, so I think everybody knows that the Jacoby, right now, gives them the best chance to win. At the end of the day it's not about draft position, it's about trying to win the last two games and see what happens at the end of the year."
So, then, if Rivera goes back to Howell, is there any reason other than tanking why he can justify it?
"Yeah, he's been your starter all year and you're out of the playoffs anyway, and he's the younger quarterback," Gruden said. "He's the guy that you have under contract and you wanna see develop into the starting quarterback for this franchise for the next coming years. So yes, you don't wanna totally destroy his confidence, but I don't think this would destroy his confidence, taking this backseat based on the last two weeks of his performance. I think it's a chance for him to just take a step back and watch a veteran play and,, kind of show it how it's done and, and maybe just get his wits back about him and start the off season on a positive note. I don't think he'd be wrong if they started Sam, but just the way they've played the last two weeks, I think it's a no brainer to play Jacoby."
Take a listen to Gruden's entire segment above, where he also touches on how the end of this regime is a lot different than the end of previous ones in DC, the outlook vs. the Niners, and more!
