SUNDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2010
KLMNO PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL Redskins’ coaches seek understanding fromGrossman Former backup
quarterback to start for first time since 2008
BY RICKMAESE
irving, tex. —With little prac- tice and even less notice, the Red- skins have given Rex Grossman the tallest of tasks when he takes the field Sunday at Cowboys Sta- dium. Starting his first game since 2008, he’ll try to show that he can upgrade a quarterback position that had been previously filled by a six-time Pro Bowler, even as coaches count on him to produce improvement at the oth- er 10 offensive positions as well. “We’ve been struggling,” said
offensivecoordinatorKyleShana- han. “We’ve definitely been strug- gling to score points, and we got to give someone else an opportu- nity. I’m excited to see what Rex can do. I have no idea what he’ll
do.This willbemy firstgamewith him as starter.” After only five wins in 13
games, coaches feel they know what they would’ve gotten out of Donovan McNabb, which is pre- cisely why they’ve benched him for the remainder of the season. Grossman is an unknown quanti- ty, but those familiar with the controversial decision say coach- es felt it was essential to switch quarterbacks for the team to sal- vage what is left of the season. Among the explanations Red-
skins CoachMike Shanahan gave for benching McNabb on Oct. 31 in Detroit:He felt Grossman gave the Redskins a better chance of winning. Turning to Grossman now, though, isn’t as much about winning. Coaches feel Grossman will give them a better opportuni- ty to evaluate all the players around him. “I think it’s pretty obvious
what’s at stake. I’m very excited about it,” Grossman said. “It’s an unbelievable opportunity to go down to Dallas in this rivalry game and show what I can do with this offense and this team.” The Redskins certainly want
the win, but once the team was mathematically eliminated from playoff contention last weekend, the organizational focus shifted
per
Bowl.Thoughthe Bears relied heavilyondefense, the 2006 team also scored the second-most points in the NFL. By the end of the next season, Grossman had become the butt of jokes inChica- go and lost his starting job toKyle Orton. “I definitely have had some
time to reflect . . . on my time in Chicago and what I would do differently and. . . if given the op- portunity to be a starter again, how I would go about it,” Gross- man said Friday. “So I definitely have a game plan. Not only for Dallas but formyself as well.” The circumstances surround-
ing his return to an NFL huddle are hardly ideal. Because of weather, the Redskins couldn’t hold a full-speed outdoor practice last week, and until Friday, Mc- Nabb handled the majority of the reps. Regardless, taking over a quarterback job this late in the season is a tall order. “He’s done a good job in prac-
tice all year,” said Kyle Shanahan. “With Rex’s personality, the stage isn’t too big for him. I expect him to play well.” Quarterback JonKitna similar-
JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST
Quarterback Rex Grossman (8) is in his second year of the offensive system run byKyle Shanahan, son of CoachMike Shanahan, left. Thoseweaknesseshavemadeit
to deciding which pieces to bring back in 2011. McNabb and his limitations apparently made it difficult for the organization’s tal- ent evaluators to assess the roster. For years,McNabbreliedonhis
play-making ability to win games, but for one reason or another — his fading skills or the coaches’ refusal to turn him loose? — he hasn’t been turning broken plays into highlights this season. In fact, he’s only run the ball six timesinthepast
fivegames.Many of his most impressive plays this year have come on deep passes. For coaches, the problems with
McNabb can’t all be measured in statistics. Those familiar with the decision to bench him say the 12-year veteran didn’t under- stand the playbook, didn’t work through his progressions, strug- gled to read coverages and couldn’t manage the game, which resulted in costly delay-of-game penalties and bad timeouts.
ON FOOTBALL Shanahan looking at another quarterback call on football from D1
thatmatter. Shanahan signaled his intention to look to the draft to fillWashington’s glaring need at the game’s most important position, saying he would seek a “top quarterback in the draft, if a young DonovanMcNabb or maybe a Sam Bradford” is available. The problem is, every team seeks a franchise-caliber quarterback, and Shanahan believed he had one in the former Philadelphia Eagles star. But he was wrong. And Shanahan’s error is a major setback for his Redskins restoration project. For the most part, he has wasted a whole year because the biggest piece of the puzzle didn’t fit. At football’s second-most
important position, left tackle, the Redskins are better than they were last season. Rookie Trent Williams could anchor the offensive line for a decade or so. If Shanahan had gone 2 for 2 on left tackle and quarterback, he could have deemed the season a success regardless of the Redskins’ performance on the field. Instead, the Redskins (5-8) basically made little progress. They have lost three straight and five of six, and Shanahan still must find a quarterback who, eventually, can operate his run- heavy, quarterback-friendly offense at a championship- caliber level. “Coach Shanahan is looking
for something.He’s looking to get this team back to where it used to be, and it’s not going to be enough even if guys give everything they have,” cornerback and defensive co- captain DeAngeloHall said. “If Coach Shanahan doesn’t see that level he’s looking for, that performance, he’s gonna go try to get it somewhere else. Be it the draft or whatever, he don’t mess around.He’s gonna find it.” Shanahan believed Bradford
was the guy he needed to jump- startWashington. The Redskins, however, lacked the combination of picks and players needed to entice the St. Louis Rams to consider trading theNo. 1 overall pick in the previous draft, so they went the trade route. Many in the organization wantedMcNabb, thoughKyle
difficult for coaches to assess the other players on the field, accord- ing to some in the organization. They can’t see what pass catchers are capable of because McNabb mightnot look
theirway.McNabb has taken some sacks by failing to step up in the pocket, which has forced offensive tackles at times to change their technique. He’s dug the team some early holes and the Redskins have had to abandon the running game in the second half, which makes evalu- ating tailbacks difficult. “Every quarterback’s differ-
ent,”Grossmansaid. “Ican’t really speak on what he does, but this is my second year in this system. . . . I feel like it does what I do well: chances to go deep, and then intermediate patterns and then down to the check downs. It gives you an opportunity to make big plays without trying to create your own big plays. I just want to
run the offense and not try to do anything special.” Grossman, 30, has little game
experience in recent years, but those who’ve watched the two quarterbacks at practice say Grossman has a better under- standing of the offense, if not a better ability to execute. Gross- manplayed underKyle Shanahan in 2009 in Houston, and though he essentially held a clipboard for 16 games, the Texans ran a nearly identical system. Grossman earned his spot on
the Texans’ roster in the final preseason game, in which he was 9-of-16 passing for 197 yardsanda pair of touchdowns. During the regular season, he saw action in just one game, completing 3 of 9 passes for 33 yards and an inter- ception against Jacksonville. With Washington, he only set
foot on the field at the tail end of theDetroit game.Hewas4of 7 for 44 yards, but he lost a fumble on a
ly hadn’t started a game since 2008 but he was thrust into the Cowboys’ huddle when Tony Romo broke his clavicle on Oct. 25.
“The speed of the game is al-
costly sack. The Lions returned the ball for a game-clinching touchdown. In the preseason with Wash-
ington, Grossman exhibited many of the flaws that cost him his job in Chicago: inconsistency, poor decision-making and a pro- pensity for turnovers. In three preseason games, he was 33 of 55 for 446 yards and two touch- downs. But he also had an inter- ception and five fumbles -- two of which were lost -- and took four sacks. “I’ve been impressed with Rex
since Day 1,”Mike Shanahan said Friday. “The way he’s been han- dling our practices, the way he’s been running our offense. But until a guy plays in a game, you don’t know for sure.” Chicago made Grossman the
22ndoverall pick in the 2003NFL draft, but he didn’t start regularly for the Bears until
2006.That was the year Chicago reached the Su-
ways difficult to adjust to,” Kitna said. “You feel like you need to play faster, but slowing down a little bit is what you actually need to do. You need to pump your brakes a bit, so to speak.” Though Grossman has taken
reps with the starters each week, practice isn’t a perfect simulation of the gameday experience, Kitna says. “What helped me more was
practicing on the scout team,” he said, “because you’re going against the number one defense. So I don’t really feel like practice prepares you much for the speed of the game. It’s so different.” When Grossman leads the of-
fense onto the field Sunday, coaches, Redskins fans and Grossman himself will learn just how different. “This is a tough situation,” Grossmansaid, “but it iswhat it is and I’mexcited about it.”
maeser@washpost.com
EZ SU
D5
JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST
John Beck, above, and Rex Grossman move up the depth chart at quarterback, but it’s unlikely that either are the long-term answer.
Shanahan was not among them. The offensive coordinator was among those who felt a quarterback likeMarc Bulger would be a good fill-in choice until the Redskins could draft and develop a young quarterback. Coaches evaluated film ofMcNabb and noticed flaws inMcNabb’s performance —poor reads, inexplicably poor throws, stretches where he relied on freelancing too much—that they hoped to iron out during training camp. It didn’t happen. In benchingMcNabb with
three games left on the schedule,Mike Shanahan has essentially conceded that he feels he’s gotten the most he can out of McNabb—and that amounts to five wins on the season and only five touchdowns in the past four games. The Redskins have seven picks
in the upcoming draft, including selections in the first and second round. If their second-half slide continues, they will likely get a top-10 pick (only seven teams have won fewer games), giving them a chance to select one of the highly regarded college signal-callers. In that scenario, the Redskins could bring back Grossman and
Beck and possibly sign another veteran quarterback in free agency to battle with a rookie in training camp and the preseason. If a rookie struggles, as most rookies do, one of the veterans on the roster probably would start and the Shanahans could bring the kid along slowly during the season. Of course, that means the
process of a newquarterback learning Shanahan’s offense, which should have occurred during the wasted 2010 season, may help undermine the 2011 season as well. That’s probably not an appealing thought to owner Daniel Snyder and Redskins fans, but that’s just the way it is now. Mike Shanahan has player- personnel control and a five-year contract that is believed to pay him $7 million per season, so he can withstand one major blunder in picking a quarterback. But Shanahan must nail the
next one. “Everyone knows how
important that quarterback is to Coach Shanahan,” cornerback Carlos Rogers said. “He ain’t gonna wait if he feels he need to go get one.”
reidj@washpost.com
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