KRYK SLANTS
Jay Gruden appears all but gone as Redskins head coach. ‘If the key still works Monday, I’ll keep working’ ... Dan Quinn dodges bullet in Atlanta ... Garrett now on the hot seat
In no longer seems a matter of if, but when Jay Gruden is fired.
As Sunday afternoon turned into evening, and Week 5 began winding down, his firing seemed imminent.
Gruden, Jon’s younger brother, has been the Washington Redskins head coach since 2014. He’s an offensive-side specialist and his team fell to 0-5 Sunday, after losing ugly on offence to the New England Patriots, 33-7.
Not much was expected of the Redskins this season, frankly, as they transition (awkwardly) from veteran passers Case Keenum and Colt McCoy to Dwayne Haskins, a raw rookie drafted No. 15 overall.
But, as always seems to happen in Washington as the coach du jour finally falls out of favour with owner Dan Snyder, strange stories have begun leaking out of the U.S. capitol, including specific examples of how Snyder and the coach are nowhere near on the same page regarding integral aspects of the club.
Coincidence or not, a pair of year-old videos that went viral over the weekend showed Gruden apparently taking a drag on some type of homerolled cigarette (ahem), and sitting on a sidewalk with a young woman perched on his thigh.
Also, a report heading into the weekend claimed Snyder insisted the club draft Haskins at No. 15, over Gruden’s purported objection.
Following Washington’s loss to the 5-0 Patriots, Snyder and president Bruce Allen reportedly bolted the postgame locker room much earlier than usual, and were quickly driven out of FedEx Field — for whatever that’s worth.
Running back Chris Thompson has been in Washington throughout Gruden’s run. He could barely get out what he wanted to say in a sombre Redskins locker room, as tears and emotions overwhelmed him. He spoke as if Gruden already had been fired.
“I feel like he was one of the guys that really believed in me,” Thompson said haltingly, through sniffles and tears, “and wanted me to stay here and be with him through his whole legacy here as a coach.
“Going through that practice squad here was real tough for me.”
Gruden is 35-49-1 (.418) as Washington’s head coach.
He seemed to know what’s around the corner.
“Nobody has told me anything … If the key works Monday, I’ll keep working,” he said after the game.
NOT SO MIGHTY QUINN
Then there’s Dan Quinn.
He has been the Atlanta Falcons head coach since 2015. He’s a defensive-side specialist and his team fell to 1-4 Sunday, after losing ugly on defence at the Houston Texans, 53-32.
It seemed he could be fired at any moment, too, along with Gruden. But Falcons owner Arthur Blank on Sunday night reportedly said he’s not considering a coaching-staff change.
Quinn talked only about correcting whatever’s wrong at his post-game presser in Houston, even though the defence he personally took over this past off-season allowed Texans quarterback
Deshaun Watson to become the first NFL player in one game to throw for at least 400 yards (426) and five touchdowns, with five or fewer incompletions.
Even worse, the Falcons allowed the Texans to convert 10 of 13 third downs and rack up 592 total yards. Atlanta pass rushers also failed to sack Watson, the first time he hasn’t been sacked since Week 8 of last season.
Quinn said he thought the game changed in the third quarter. Wrong. It changed after Houston went three-andout to start the game. Because thereafter Houston’s possessions ended as follows: Touchdown, touchdown, field goal, end of half, touchdown, field goal, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown.
“We’re disappointed across the board,” Quinn said. “It’s 100% gut-check time for us. It’s not what we expected.”
Quinn was asked if miscommunication issues continue to vex his team.
“If there was miscommunication, and if there are changes to be made from a personnel side, obviously we’re going to look into everything, in terms of how we played,” he said. “There’s no excuse for having a performance like that.”
The Falcons didn’t fly home to Atlanta — rather, to Arizona, to practise all week out there before next Sunday’s game against the host Cardinals. Maybe that’s a good thing for Quinn.
“We’ve got a week on the road together,” Quinn said. “We have to get things correct in our game together. So that’s what we plan on doing.”
Said Blank, per ESPN: “This staff has performed before. My hope is they can fix what needs to be fixed and start winning some games.”
Quinn’s Falcons are 18-19.
ALSO ON THE HOT SEAT
While one Texas-based team’s head coach can breathe easy at least this week — Bill O’Brien of the 3-2 Texans — the seat just got hotter for Jason Garrett of the Dallas Cowboys.
In a ballyhooed home-field matchup of 3-1 NFC powers, Garrett’s Cowboys got slaughtered by newbie head coach Matt LaFleur, quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers, before rallying to make the final score closer, 34-24.
This is only the umpteenth time we’ve leaped to a conclusion that Garrett’s job surely must be edging closer to jeopardy, only for owner/GM
Jerry Jones to assure everyone that his job is as safe as ever.
This one had to have particularly stung, however, right after Jones has been raining praise bombs all over Dallas regarding the play of fourth-year quarterback Dak Prescott, running back
Ezekiel Elliott and the entire new-look Dallas offence. Prescott was picked off three times Sunday.
Packers defensive coordinator Mike Pettine, only seven days after the New Orleans Saints did so first, rendered the supposed highoctane Dallas attack rather impotent until the Pack had screamed out to a 31-3 lead.
EXTRA POINTS
Philadelphia Eagles defenders sacked New York Jets QB Luke Falk 10 times (three times by Brandon
Graham) and hit him 16 times … Will Fuller V had 14 catches for 217 yards and three touchdowns for Houston … Well, well. Maybe it wasn’t all Eli Manning’s fault. Rookie QB Daniel Jones led a New York Giants offence that, in a 28-10 loss to Minnesota, amassed just 211 yards — the club’s worst output since November 2017 … Incredibly, New England’s defence recorded five sacks for the fourth straight game … Jon Gruden to his Oakland Raiders, who improved to 3-2 with a 24-21 win over Chicago in London, England: “You can beat anybody, anywhere, in any %$&#*$ time zone!”