Redskins risk pushback over problem linebacker
Signing Foster after domestic violence charge was laid looks bad on team and NFL
News and views from around the NFL, with Week 13 underway:
1.
Redskins grab Foster off waivers
News: The Redskins are making no apologies for the controversial acquisition of Reuben Foster, which came one day after the San Francisco 49ers on Monday officially waived the second-year linebacker, following his latest domestic violation accusation. The 24-year-old allegedly slapped a girlfriend in the face at the Niners’ team hotel on Saturday in Tampa. Police charged Foster with one count of firstdegree misdemeanour domestic violence.
After the Redskins claimed Foster, the league placed him on the commissioner’s exempt list. It means he can’t practice or play, nor will he take up a roster spot, until the league decides after an investigation whether Foster should be suspended. The club said it, too, is investigating.
In the spring Foster was charged in the Bay Area with a felony count of domestic violence for allegedly attacking his girlfriend, who was left with a bruised arm and ruptured ear drum. But she recanted her story and charges were dismissed.
Earlier this year, Foster was arrested in Alabama on a seconddegree marijuana possession charge, which was later dismissed once Foster completed a diversion class. But as a result the NFL suspended Foster for the first two games this season, for violating the league’s policy on substances of abuse.
View: Everyone looks bad with this signing. First, in the eyes of the general public, the NFL can’t ever seem to get it right with domestic violence. But the league couldn’t prevent what the Redskins did.
Owner Daniel Snyder, who has been hiding from the media for years, undoubtedly signed off on this controversial move. But it was left for only head coach Jay Gruden — and no one from the front office — to publicly answer for the move.
“It’s a team decision,” Gruden said. “I think we all had our hand in it. We accept, obviously, the questions. But we want to let the process play out and see what happens.
“There’s no guarantee (Foster is) ever going to play here, to be honest with you. He has a lot of work to do personally — with the team, with the NFL, with himself — before he even thinks about playing football again.”
Did Redskins leaders consider public reaction as they deliberated whether to claim Foster?
“A little bit, yeah, I’m sure there was,” Gruden said. “This is a young athlete, young person, who got himself into some trouble, and we want to find out exactly what happened.”
2.
Patricia sends message to Lions
News: For the second time since mid-November, Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia had his stumbling team practise outdoors on a brutally wintry day, to prepare for an indoor game on Sunday.
View: The first-year head coach received a lot of criticism, from me even, the first time two weeks ago. This time, I’m laying off.
Look, we ought to learn by this time next year whether Patricia is over his head as a head coach, and whether he’s just the latest Bill Belichick disciple who implemented Hoody McGrumpypants’ unshakable “I’m always right” attitude and leadership style before earning it.
But for Patricia to have his charges practice in snow and sub-freezing temperatures a second time like this probably is an indication he believes his players need some toughening up. They probably do. So more power to him. One franchise playoff win since Elvis Presley broke big doesn’t disprove such need.
3.
Big Ben criticizes teammate News: Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger called out teammate James Washington, a wide receiver, for dropping a likely touchdown pass late in the Steelers’ loss at Denver. Washington seemed to slow up on a long, deep pass before realizing he shouldn’t have, then leaped, momentarily grabbed the ball, twisted, then lost the ball upon landing on his back.
“I’m not really sure what he was doing,” Roethlisberger said. “James needs to run through that, and it’s a touchdown.” View: Shut up, Ben. If you hadn’t thrown two interceptions, including one near the game’s end on the cusp of the goal-line that effectively ended the game, maybe then you’d be in the position to criticize. But even then, a pro sport team’s leading player cannot share such criticisms publicly.
As Denver Broncos WR Emmanuel Sanders said: “If I was in that locker-room, that wouldn’t sit well with me, because that’s a situation that I feel like you handle in house, instead of talking about it (publicly).
“Obviously he’s the leader of that team and everybody looks to him to lead. So in doing that, in going to the media and saying those things, I definitely would pull him to the side and be like, ‘Hey, man, if you have a problem with anything I do on the field, I would rather you talk to me in person about it, than talk about it on the radio, because there (are) ways to avoid that. Ben knows that.”
He sure does.
It’s yet more proof this Steelers team doesn’t handle adversity well. And that doesn’t bode well with the playoffs just five weeks away.