Gruden f ired by Redsk ins
Coach terminated a day after team’s fifth straight defeat
Owner Dan Snyder and president Br uce A l len summoned coach Jay Gruden to t he Washing ton Redskins’ facilit y before daw n Monday to tell him he was being f ired.
“It was a brief conversation,” A l len sa id.
Now comes a longer conversation about t he status of t he f loundering f ra nchise t hat has won just t wo playof f games in Snyder ’s t wo decades of ownership and zero during A l len’s tenure. Gr uden is out a f ter an 0- 5 sta r t to his si x t h season and is t he latest in a long line of Redsk ins coaches to ta ke t he fa l l for sig nif ica nt organizationa l shor tcomings.
“To make a decision like this is difficult, but it was necessary,” Allen said during a 13- minute news conference. “Our 0- 5 start is not just disappointing. We had much different expectations for the beginning of the season. We owe it to our fans ... the organization, the players, the coaches and their families to do everything we can to win.”
The Redsk ins haven’t won much lately, going 35- 49- 1 overa l l under Gruden with one playof f appearance in t he 2015 season. A popular coach among players and a smart of fensive mind, Gr uden str ug gled in preparing his tea ms: Washing ton went 1- 5 in season openers and lost a win- and- get- i n game in Week 17 in 2016 against t he New York Giants, who had nothing to play for. 49ers 31, Browns 3: Matt Breida ran 83 yards for a touchdown on San Francisco’s first play from scrimmage, Baker Mayfield was harassed into his worst game as a pro, and the 49ers stayed unbeaten for their best start in nearly 30 years. Tevin Coleman added a 19- yard score as part of a dominant ground game on a day when quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo passed for 181 yards and kicker Robbie Gould missed a pair of field goal attempts and had a third try blocked. San Francisco ( 4- 0) joined the 5- 0 New England Patriots as the only remaining undefeated teams in the NFL. Mayfield was 8- for- 22 for 100 yards passing. Patriots: New England released tight end Ben Watson. The team announced the move on Monday. It came shortly after Watson tweeted that he didn’t do enough to earn a roster spot. Watson was eligible to make his debut for the Patriots against Washington on Sunday. But the 38- year- old wasn’t activated after serving a four- game suspension for testing positive for a banned substance following the 2018 season.
Titans: Tennessee released kicker Cairo Santos a day after he missed three field goals and had a fourth blocked. The Titans announced the move Monday. Santos missed field goals from 50, 36 and 53 yards with a 36- yarder blocked by Darryl Johnson in a 14- 7 loss to Buffalo on Sunday. Santos apologized at his locker after the game with the native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, saying he’d never had a day like that anywhere. Santos had been signed Sept. 4 when they put veteran Ryan Succop on injured reserve after having surgery this offseason on his kicking leg. Succop remains three week s away from being eligible to be activated.