The drama surrounding the Washington Redskins is only just beginning. Mike Shanahan made headlines on Wednesday after announcing that backup Kirk Cousins would start against the Atlanta Falcons over Robert Griffin III. Not only would Griffin not be starting, but he is now shut down for the remainder of the season. Things are getting messy and NFL legend John Madden is calling the Redskins out as dysfunctional.
While speaking on Sirius XM NFL Radio, Madden noted he did not agree with Shanahan's decision to bench the starter. The head coach cited health issues as the reason Griffin would not be playing the rest of the year and Madden could not disagree more. While saying that he respects Shanahan as a coach, the team is sacrificing games by making this move and turning the team into a soap opera.
"I think it's a dysfunctional group," Madden said. "I don't understand what they're doing. It's hard to take 'well we're watching out for RGIII's health and his welfare.' You know, if you felt [that way] about his health and welfare, you probably would have done something about it a year ago, or maybe even earlier in the season, when he started the regular season without any preseason practice."
Madden is convinced that Griffin gives Washington the best chance at winning games during the final stretch of the season and if he is healthy then he needs to be the starter. On his part, Griffin said that he believed he was healthy and requested to play against the Falcons but was shut down by Shanahan.
"Coach decided to shut me down for the rest of the season," Griffin said, via CBSSports.com. "I expressed my desire to play. [Shanahan] just wanted to make sure that I got to the offseason free of injury so that I can have a good offseason. I'm going to take what coach has decided and roll with it and just try to find ways to help this team win."
Many believe at this point with the Redskins being 3-10 on the season, there is no point to risking the health of Griffin. Anymore wins could throw off the draft order for Washington, something that makes Madden furious.
"You can say well they're 3-10, they're out of it, so now they can do these things," Madden said. "No you can't. This is still regular-season football. Draft order, that's one small thing, but you still owe it to the people that are playing, that are still in the playoff picture. And when you can affect that and you don't affect it with an all-out performance, then I think that affects the integrity of the game."
