Brady, 40 Pats face 04 Skins, whose QB situation is shaky
LANDOVER, Md. — One of these NFL franchises is not like the other. At all. On one side, there’s the New England Patriots: Led by Bill Belichick’s defense and Tom Brady at quarterback, they’re the reigning Super Bowl champs and just so happen to be 40 this season.
On the other? The Washington Redskins are 04, have a coach, Jay Gruden, that everyone assumes will be gone at the end of this season, if not sooner, and a starting QB spot that keeps shuffling.
No wonder New England is favored by about two touchdowns on the road Sunday.
Not until Gruden announced his pick Friday, no one knew for sure whether it would be Colt McCoy, Dwayne Haskins or Case Keenum taking snaps this weekend. Turns out, it will be McCoy, making him the third QB to play for Washington this season.
Redskins running back Chris Thompson made the case that such uncertainty at the sport’s most important position was not a big deal. handing the ball to the opponent and has neither run nor passed all that effectively. Plays are there to be made, thanks to Gruden’s keen offensive mind, but they’re not always being made.
Keenum had five turnovers in Week 3, then threw a pick before yanked in Week 4; his replacement, firstround draft pick Haskins, threw a trio of interceptions in his NFL debut last week at the New York Giants.
McCoy, who’s been with Gruden in Washington since 2014, hasn’t played since breaking his leg last season. Now he gets his chance to show what he can do in an offense he knows so well — even though his teams are 720 in games he has started in the NFL.
“Any coach would tell you that: It’s very, very important for your quarterback to know your system,” Gruden said. “All three of them know the system, but Colt has the most experience in it. He’s very comfortable with it.”
Whoever is at QB, the Redskins know full well how difficult things will be.
“We could sit here and make it about the Patriots, and we would be here all day: Super Bowls; best quarterback of all time; one of the greatest coaches of all time. I really don’t care about any of that,” Washington defensive lineman Jonathan Allen said. “I’m focused on what the Redskins have to do. ‘Cause if we don’t do what we’ve got to do, it doesn’t matter what they do, ‘cause we’re not going to win.”
NEW KICKER
The Patriots will have someone other than Stephen Gostkowski kicking field goals and extra points for the first time since 2010 after placing the 35yearold on IR this week and signing Mike Nugent to replace him. Gostkowski is the franchise’s career leading scorer, but he’s already missed four extra points in 2019. “I think sometimes the outside world doesn’t know what he means to our special teams unit and us as a team,” safety Devin McCourty said. “Just the stability at that position; we never waver if there’s a kick on the line.” New England is Nugent’s eighth NFL team.