We hit a new low when Donovan McNabb criticizes a Redskins head coach not named Shanahan.
Coach Jay Gruden now says that his critical comments about Robert Griffin’s comments were inappropriate. He should not have thrown RGIII under the bus after Griffin seemingly did the same to his teammates after the loss to the forlorn Buccaneers.
CBS Sports asks Donovan McNabb if RG should accept Gruden’s apology. “Heck no,” said McNabb, only he didn’t say “heck.”
McNabb knows something about being thrown under the bus by his coach. Andy Reid did it several times in Philly, though not in words. It happened again in Minnesota. He is still smarting after Mike Shanahan did him in in 2010.
Hog Heaven respectfully disagrees with Donovan. Football is a world of men. It is rife with hard coaching. Players that call out other players are prone to be themselves called out by somebody important. Gruden has a whole roster to motivate.
We don’t believe RG spoke out of malice when he said that the “Peytons and the Aaron Rodgers” don’t play well when the rest of the team does not play well. I believe he was simply frustrated…that his team did not bail him out of a poor performance.
The coach has to get the player to focus on his performance, not on anyone else’s.
See, what Griffin said is true of ordinary quarterbacks, the Josh McCowns of the world. The Peytons and the Aarons step their game up when players around them struggle.
What Griffin did so well in 2012 is missing now. In 2012, RG made every part of the Redskins – offense, defense, special teams, coaching – look good great.
Bill O’Brien once set the sports world aghast by publicly critiquing Tom Brady. This affair is a big, empty whoop.
Hog Heaven appreciates Gruden’s specific critiques of Griffin. We need to see that the coach knows what’s going wrong, even if he hasn’t fixed it yet.
Did the owner push Gruden to a public apology for his comments? Perhaps, but more likely that someone pointed out that a public apology was the one technique Mike Shanahan never tried with Griffin.
Now it is RG’s turn to put aside any hard feelings and join his coach in a true union. The Peytons, and Aarons work toward that. It’s in the calculus of greatness.
As for Donovan, Griffin ignored him in 2012 (when it might have done him good). He would be wise to ignore him now.
The rest of us wonder, what is more delicate, RG’s body or his psyche?
Even Griffin’s fans question his mental toughness. How can that be? He is the child of two U.S. Army noncom officers, not to mention the one we gave up everything to get?
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