The Washington Redskins are a mess right now and with the team just 3-10 on the season after going to the playoffs in 2012 and with Mike Shanahan commenting that he may bench Robert Griffin III for the rest of the season for Kirk Cousins and that may lead Dan Snyder to fire his head coach.
According to ESPN.com, Shanahan made comments that may signal that Griffin will get shut down for the last three games to preserve his health, as the team is out of the playoffs as they face the 3-10 Atlanta Falcons on Sunday and the team will be making a decision on that this week. Cousins has been solid when he has played and Griffin is getting sacked at a much higher rate than last season and he is also turning the ball over much more and Cousins could be the pick for the team the rest of the way.
The tough thing about a move like that is the $7 million that Shanahan is owed and according to ESPN.com, the team is looking at the contract and is trying to figure out a way to get rid of Shanahan while not paying him his full salary. The Washington Post reports that Snyder is looking at the fact that Shanahan may have violated his contract when he may have leaked information about quitting the team last season in reports last week. Either way, the situation is a mess and Shanahan may be asking to get fired with the decisions he is making regarding RG3, who he has had an icy relationship with and who Snyder obviously loves.
The team may have brought Griffin back too soon from his knee injury and now numerous reports have come out about the Griffin and Snyder relationship, how Shanahan feels about that, how he almost quit on the team and more. Shanahan is under the gun and even if he comes back next season, he is a lame duck coach and that could lead to him getting fired. The Redskins are just 24-37 under Shanahan in his four seasons and apart from a seven game winning streak last season, the team is just 16 and 37 over that span and that could mean the end for Shanahan.
The team could finish the season on a positive note, but they have three tough games with the Falcons, Dallas Cowboys, and New York Giants on the road and with the Giants and Cowboys winning over them already, the Redskins have some work to do.
"I've got to do what's best for the organization," Shanahan said. "If we feel the best thing for the organization is doing that for Robert, then hopefully Robert will understand why we're doing it. We're doing it because he's a franchise quarterback and we want him to be able to go into the offseason and get full preparation and be ready for next year rather than playing one of the next three games and all of a sudden he sets himself back with a possible injury, whatever that may be."
