:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/45720406/453792542.0.jpg)
Jay Gruden spoke at the NFL Scouting Combine for a short time today(showed up 8 minutes late and Redskins PR didn't allow follow up questions after his original time slot was finished). He opened by saying Robert Griffin III ended the season as the starter, and they anticipate him going into next season as the number one guy. This puts a wrench into all the talk of an open QB competition between Griffin and Kirk Cousins. Cousins talked about the desire to have a chance to win the job in the offseason, and some of his quotes were interpreted as him asking for a trade if Griffin was named the starter without a competition. It appears that day is here, so we will have to wait to see how this situation plays out.
Kirk Cousins has been working out in Florida with Jay Gruden's brother Jon in Floridawhich created some buzz about the QB competition. Did Cousins have the inside track by working with a Gruden, learning what Jay wants while not being able to actually work with Jay, and why wasn't Griffin doing the same thing? Griffin is once again working out with his QB coach Terry Shea, and Jay Gruden said today that his brother does his own thing in the offseason and Robert is able to work with Jon on his own time.
It's going to be a long offseason...again.
"Robert ended the season as the starter and we anticipate that moving forward and we anticipate both of them with a good frame of mind and eager to get better," Gruden said. "We'll go into the season with Robert as the No. 1 guy obviously, and it's up to Robert to continue to grow and mature as a quarterback and a person and moving forward, we just want to see some improvement. That's up to us as a staff to get more out of him."
(h/t to Mike Jones, Washington Post)
"Robert obviously is a hard-worker," Gruden said. "He works hard on his body and his strength and I think we'll have some things drawn up for him, specific things that he can do to get better from a quarterback position - mechanic-wise, drop-back-wise, throwing-wise. All that stuff he can work on. He's got a pretty good idea of last year in OTAs and during the season on footwork and fundamentals. He can continue to grow on and build on as a quarterback. Hiring Matt Cavanaugh, an experienced quarterback coach, can only help in that process."