The Commanders took major steps backward in Sunday’s Week 3, 37-3 loss to the Buffalo Bills, according to Jay Gruden.
Gruden was appearing for his weekly appearance on “The Chris Russell Show” on The Team 980 weekdays from 1-4 p.m ET.
“I really didn’t see a lot of separation by the receivers; Buffalo did a great job of matching the routes, playing tight coverage,” added Gruden.
Gruden expressed that for a young quarterback who is getting his first starts in his career, it is difficult for them not to get stuck on a receiver. Thus, when the coverage was as good as was the Bills, Sunday, Sam Howell was then holding the ball, resulting in more sacks and quarterback hits.
For the record, the Bills sacked Howell nine times. When they didn’t sack Howell, they recorded an additional 15 quarterback hits and also intercepted him four times.
The former University of Louisville quarterback stated that during the game, when the coaches are talking to Howell through the helmet technology, they should be reminding him often to “check down.”
Gruden clarified, saying you might not need to do this with an experienced veteran, but you really should be proactive in your communication with an inexperienced guy like Howell.
Can we at least TRY to give the young man 2.5 seconds before shit starts caving in? pic.twitter.com/lxcJSnnQWH
— Mark Tyler(Hogs Haven) (@Tiller56) September 25, 2023
The former Redskins head coach (2014-19) pointed out there are different ways to help protect your quarterback, saying, “You keep a couple of extra guys in to protect, which means you will only have a two and three-man route. You can also come up with three-level throws. You can double-team a defensive end from time to time to give your outside lineman some relief from time to time.”
The former Bengals and Jaguars offensive coordinator admitted, “It is a head-scratcher because it is not like Robinson (Brian) was getting stuffed each time he ran the ball. He was getting four and five yards.”
“When you have a young quarterback, you have to take some pressure off of him, throwing a screen pass, throwing a bubble screen, getting back to some of those RPOs they had some success with in the third quarter.”
“Really, the biggest problem I had was when it was 30-0, and they kept him in and kept getting him killed. It’s not the best way to build a young quarterback’s confidence… it was hard to watch.”