Drama is headlining the final games of the Washington Redskins' seasons. There are rumors swirling that head coach Mike Shanahan will be fired. Starting quarterback Robert Griffin III has benched despite feeling healthy. The owner is clearly not on the same page. All of this is surrounding a rather disappointing year for Washington. As Kirk Cousins prepares to start in Week 15, Santana Moss is concerned the quarterback is being set up for failure.
Moss would not be shocked to see Cousins struggle against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. The veteran wide receiver believes that the benching of Griffin hurts the quarterback, but it also hurts the future of Cousins.
"It's kind of tough to put him into this situation right now and hope for him to be excellent," Moss said of Cousins, via the Washington Post. "It's almost like setting a guy up for failure. But you just want him to go out there and be at ease and just take his time, be as efficient as he can because it's one of those situations that's like, you know, Catch[-22]. He don't play as well, then you're gonna say, 'Well, should he have been in there?' But you can't do that to him because he hasn't had all this season to go out there and gel with us. But he has been ready enough to go out there and be able to run this offense. So we're just hoping for the best."
Moss makes an excellent point. Cousins has some experience starting in Griffin's place last year with the knee injury. However, starting under circumstances like this will not be easy. The benching of Griffin is awkward for everyone involved. Shanahan said the main reason was due to health concerns, but Griffin told media that he expressed his desire and ability to start for the team and was instead shut down for the year.
Cousins has the potential to create even more drama by playing well. Sunday's game against the Falcons has major draft implications. While no one is saying Cousins could be the future in Washington, finishing with the hot hand could make for a weird turn of events. Moss should be concerned no matter the outcome.
