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The expectations of Washington Redskins’ head coach Jay Gruden have been mounting over the years since he took the helms in 2014. Prior to his tenure, the Redskins were coming off a 3-13 season at the height of drama surrounding former head coach Mike Shanahan and quarterback Robert Griffin III.
Gruden was supposed to be a fresh start for the Redskins. Instead, the team is 35-47-1 under his leadership and haven’t made the playoffs since 2015. After two injury riddled seasons (2017 and 2018) that ended with the Redskins finishing at 7-9, the scrutiny surrounding Gruden’s job security started to pick up.
Now with a year left in a fully guaranteed 5-year, $20 million contract, is this a make or break season for Gruden?
So far, that seems to be the case. The Redskins had an embarrassing 31-15 loss on national television against the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football.
The problem with the loss is that the team looked unprepared and rattled. Add that to the first two losses of the season, the surprising inactive status of Adrian Peterson in Week 1, veterans that reacted unfavorably to Peterson’s status, another injury to Derrius Guice and a defense that can’t get on the same page, which are all reasons to be concerned.
With the Redskins off to an 0-3 start, it appears that Gruden is on thin ice as the team heads to New York to take on the Giants. Frankly, many didn’t think he would still be around for the Giants game after Monday’s performance. According to Gruden, he hasn’t given his job security much thought at this point.
“I am just trying to concentrate on the Giants right now, put our best foot forward, learn from our mistakes and trying to get better,” Gruden stated.
While it’s clear that something has to change to get the team back on track, Gruden doesn’t have any plans to make adjustments to the coaching staff or quarterback situation.
“We have played three games against three playoff teams and we haven’t played our best ball yet,” Gruden said. “If we feel like Dwayne [Haskins] gives us the best chance to win in a coming game, we’ll definitely put Dwayne in there. Right now, we feel like it’s Case Keenum and we’re going to move forward with him this week.”
In previous seasons, Gruden was given a pass because he inherited players from the previous coaching staff. Now that he has a team that he has fully built, he will have to deliver fast or face the possibility of the team moving on from him.
