Someone who knows Washington well, former head coach Jay Gruden, was on Team 980’s Russell & Medhurst Tuesday for his weekly appearance and had a controversial take on Washington’s potential name.
As Gruden joined the show, Russell and Medhurst joked with the former coach about the naming process. Gruden joked back and offered the following take:
“I don’t want to ruffle any feathers, but they should have never changed the name in the first place,” Gruden said.
While it may be a controversial take, Medhurst told Gruden that comment likely endeared him to Washington fans more than anything he said during his almost six seasons as head coach.
Medhurst is correct. A large portion of Washington’s fan base will always prefer the new name. However, if the team can start winning consistently, everyone will come around on the new name.
As for the rest of Gruden’s interview, it’s an outstanding listen. Gruden is an excellent analyst who peels back the curtain from his time as an NFL coach and discusses why this Week 18 game is still important to players and coaches.
Jay Gruden was Washington’s head coach from 2014-19 and was hired and let go by Bruce Allen.
Former Washington head coach Jay Gruden spent over five seasons as head coach of the Washington Football Team. Gruden was hired in Jan. 2014 and remained Washington’s coach until Oct. 7, 2019, when he was fired after starting the season 0-5.
Gruden is also the brother of Jon Gruden, who resigned as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday after derogatory emails from his past were revealed. The emails in question were exchanged with former Washington team president Bruce Allen. Allen was fired after the 2019 season after 10 years in the organization.
Jay Gruden was questioned on his relationship with Allen while in Washington and said the two mostly got along, despite the normal disagreements between the coach and front office. But Gruden said he mostly stuck to football and wasn’t privy to many things outside of his coaching staff and players.
“No, I tried to stay in my lane as far as football coaching is concerned,” he said. “I know they had the total say over everything. But I wanted to stay in my lane as far as football is concerned and try to do the best I can in that regard and try to make the team better.”
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Gruden’s interview was when Russell asked if Beth Wilkinson interviewed him during her probe of Washington’s toxic workplace culture.
Gruden said he wasn’t.
“No, I haven’t been questioned, so I don’t even know what the heck is really going on,” Jay Gruden said. “Once I was let go out there, I was let go, and I just kind of backed away quietly.”
That’s indeed interesting.
Gruden spent almost six years in the same building as Allen and owner Dan Snyder, yet was not questioned one time during the NFL’s investigation that lasted around one year?
Tony Romo has become a favorite among fans for his prediction skills in the NFL booth, but Jay Gruden thinks he could do better.
Ever since he retired as an NFL quarterback and entered the media side of the business, Tony Romo has become a revelation in the booth, quickly ascending to one of the favorites among fans for his commentary during a game.
Part of his appeal is based on the rapport that he has with fellow commentator Jim Nance, as well as his ability to predict what is going to take place on the field before it happens. Routinely, as a quarterback is making his pre-snap reads and checking in or out of audibles, Romo is franticly talking in the booth, dissecting what the QB is doing, and seeing, and giving a prediction for what play they are going to run.
A good amount of the time, he’s usually right, which immediately grabbed fans’ attention as Romo became the default Nostradamus of the NFL. However, Washington Football coach Jay Gruden is none too impressed. In an interview on the Standig Room Only podcast, with The Athletic‘s Ben Standig, Gruden discussed his outlook on entering the commentating booth this coming season, and whether or not he could match the fortune-telling skills of Romo. Here is the interaction:
Do you have the Tony Romo predictive skills where you can see the play at the line of scrimmage and tell the audience what’s gonna happen?
I could do it every time. He’s only right like 30 percent of the time. Those are usually pretty obvious, I mean (laughs). Nobody talks about the times when he’s wrong, but when he’s right, holy cow, he’s a genius. Oh, come on, man. Sure, it’s a run. Nope, it’s a pass. Sorry, I was wrong.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, so it’s not a huge deal that Gruden is waving off the talents of Romo. However, we would love to see what Jay could do in the booth, if only to compare and contrast…
And former Washington coach Jay Gruden has some of his own.
In a Washington Post story published Friday about the team’s vice president of player personnel, Kyle Smith, taking the same job with the Atlanta Falcons, Gruden offered the latest criticism of Snyder.
Explaining Smith’s responsibilities in leading Washington’s NFL Draft meetings, The Post described him as “an integral voice” in the room. But while Gruden praised Smith, he also noted that sometimes it didn’t matter because Snyder “would come in off his yacht and make the pick” regardless of what others thought was best for the team.
“Every year that I was there, we had a pretty good draft class, with a couple exceptions,” former coach Jay Gruden said. “[Smith] was really good about listening to the coaches because the coaches also did evaluations. … When it came our time to pick, we’d always talk about the picks, where we’d like to go, what happens if [the player] is gone, and did all our scenarios. And then [owner Daniel Snyder] would come in off his yacht and make the pick.”
Although Gruden isn’t quoted explicitly saying this, it’s reasonable to assume he’s talking about Washington’s 2019 first-round draft pick, Dwayne Haskins. Snyder insisted the team selecting the former Ohio State quarterback with the No. 15 overall pick, despite most of the team’s coaches and executives saying otherwise, The Post reported in a story about the team releasing Haskins less than two years after he was drafted.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are now on a seven-game slide after losing 25-27 at home to the Houston Texans this afternoon. Sunday’s final results kept the Jags from becoming the first team in NFL history to concede 30-plus points in seven consecutive …
The Jacksonville Jaguars are now on a seven-game slide after losing 25-27 at home to the Houston Texans this afternoon. Sunday’s final results kept the Jags from becoming the first team in NFL history to concede 30-plus points in seven consecutive games.
Had the Jags allowed another 30-point game (or more), it would’ve marked the second time the team would’ve achieved an unwanted feat as they became the first team ever to drop three consecutive games to winless teams last time they faced Houston.
That said, here are the good, bad, and ugly talking points from Week 9’s defeat:
The good: DJ Chark is back in a big way
The best news coming out of this game is that the Jaguars now sit in sole possession of the No. 2 overall pick as the only one-win team left in the NFL. However, fans shouldn’t let that distract them from the stars who are on the team currently like DJ Chark Jr., who bounced back Sunday in a big way.
After seeing his connection with quarterback Gardner Minshew II deteriorate to some degree in the last couple of games, Chark came out and put on a show. He ultimately finished the game with seven catches for 146 yards and a touchdown, giving him the highest receiving total in the whole game. He also reminded fans why he is one of the brighter deep threats in the NFL.
Myles Jack, James Robinson, and even Jake Luton flashed at times in Sunday’s game, but the biggest bright-spot for Jacksonville this Sunday was Chark because he now has the momentum he was desperately searching for.
The bad: Jay Gruden’s fourth down, 2-point conversion play-calling
There have been questions about Jay Gruden’s play-calling decisions since the team’s Week 2 loss in Tennessee. Whether it’s the persistence to have Minshew throw the ball 40+ times in five-straight defeats or that embarrassing fumble in the last game against Houston. The true failures of Gruden’s tenure in Jacksonville have been his lack of efficiency on fourth down.
After nine weeks of the 2020 season, only two teams have fared worse than the Jaguars when it comes to converting on fourth down as they’ve only converted on 28% of their tries, down from 48% in 2019. Today was a reinforcement of that as the team ran the same play on back-to-back third and fourth downs in the fourth quarter.
The Jags’ 2-point conversion rate is an improvement on this mark, currently sitting at 40% — also down on last year’s total (50%) — but still isn’t good enough. Today’s attempt failed due to an errant throw by Luton, but the decision to force a ball to Chark in double coverage seems odd.
The ugly: The Jaguars secondary
It is difficult to put into words just how putrid the Jaguars’ secondary is. Busted coverages, missed tackles, long touchdowns have been littered throughout the 2020 campaign and all three were rampant in today’s matchup.
For what feels like the first time all season, the Jaguars were able to get consistent pressure in the face of Deshaun Watson. Unfortunately for the front-seven, the former college football champion proved to be at his usual elusive best.
Despite the improved efforts from the Jaguars pass-rush, Watson still had two touchdowns on the day. Both were from 50 yards or further and came as a result of dismal play from members of the Jaguars’ secondary.
The first was a 57-yard catch and run from Brandin Cooks, who managed to squeeze between three Jags’ defensive backs and then scamper up the sideline leaving safety Jarrod Wilson in his wake.
The second occurrence was even more concerning, although the play should’ve resulted in a delay of game penalty. However, when the ball was snapped, C.J Henderson completely lost track of the ball as Will Fuller V adjusted to it behind the rookie’s back before turning the ball upfield for a 77-yard score.
If this secondary doesn’t play better soon, it’s difficult to imagine the Jaguars staying competitive the rest of the way. It’s especially concerning with the Green Bay Packers and Aaron Rogers up next as their offense is ninth in passing.
Jay Gruden wishes he could have the Jags’ failed fourth-and-one attempt against the Texans back as it was a momentum changer of the game.
Several issues held the Jacksonville Jaguars back in their last game against the Houston Texans, but the biggest one fans have pointed to was the offensive play-calling. While offensive coordinator Jay Gruden has been one of the brighter spots of what could be a fired coaching staff, he didn’t call his best game Sunday.
One thing many in particular were puzzled by is the lack of commitment to the run as the Texans came into the game dead last in rush defense, allowing an average of over 170 yards a game. The issue is something that has also been a problem aside from Week 5 (the defense hasn’t helped), and as a result, the Jags have the lowest run percentage in the league (33.44%). With a stud tailback like James Robinson, that’s a figure many feel is unacceptable and something Gruden was asked about in his most recent media session.
“Yeah, for sure. Every week our design is to go in there and run the football, pound the football. Unfortunately I’ve done a poor job of sticking with it, so it’s something we have to, obviously, get better at and be aware of the game, the situation, and all that,” Gruden said.
“Obviously, sometimes late in the third quarter, fourth quarter, if you take out that part of the game in the last two or three weeks, it’s hard to run the ball, but we do have to do a better job early in games to try to maintain the run and keep our linemen pounding the rock a little bit and keeping the pressure off Gardner [Minshew II].”
Keeping the pressure off of Gardner Minshew II is something that could help the young signal-caller, who is already having trouble playing from the pocket as it is. Despite that, he’s registered 40 passing attempts or more in all but one of his games with the only exemption being the Jags’ only win of the season against the Indianapolis Colts (20 attempts). For this reason, fans will be watching the Jags’ play-calling closer than ever in hopes that they pound the ball a little more.
Of course, when looking at Sunday’s game in particular there was one play that garnered a lot of conversation — and not in a good way. That was the fourth-and-one gadget play in the third quarter where the team tried to roll James Robinson out right for a pass. The play resulted in a fumble (recovered by Houston), and after having some days to think about it, Gruden discussed wanting that play back Wednesday.
“That’s a play I’ll lose sleep over for many, many nights and I regret calling, obviously. It was a gadget play. We worked on it, really practiced with James [Robinson] trying to sell it and get James O’Shaughnessy to the corner. We were hoping with the wildcat formation that they would trigger the corner. They brought the safety out of the box, which we knew they would do,” Gruden added.
“We felt like we had a pretty good look. Ideally, that’s a third-and-1 call where you can go for it on fourth down or maybe four-minute where you’re trying to seal the game, not a fourth-and-1 call. I should’ve left that in the hands of our offensive linemen and James Robinson, in my opinion, and I regret that dearly, just so you guys know.”
If this coaching staff is going to have any chance to stick around, it’s going to hinge on Gruden’s abilities because he has the better unit. He’ll have an opportunity to turn things around against another poor rushing defense in the Detroit Lions this week who rank 30th. Time will tell if he’s learned from the mistakes of Week 5 and the first quarter of the season as the Jags’ schedule is slated to get tougher.
Jay Gruden might have spend his Friday night watching “Varsity Blues,” if this touchdown design is any indication.
If you’re like me, you probably spent part of your Friday night watching “Varsity Blues” on VH-1. Staring Jon Voight, James Van Der Beek and Scott Caan, the movie tells the story of the West Canaan Coyotes high school football team. Vanderbeek plays Jonathan Moxon, the team’s backup quarterback. In one moment from early in the film Moxon brings the second-team offense onto the practice field and lines up with an empty formation, four receivers to the left and a single receiver to the right.
Head coach Bud Kilmer, a no-nonsense, old school football guy, loses his mind. When he confronts his backup quarterback about the formation, Moxon explains it as the “oopty oop. Overload the defense on one side, burn them one-on -one on the other.”
Kilmer might not have appreciated it, but perhaps Jay Gruden did:
On this play, Gardner Minshew aligns in the empty backfield with four receivers on the left, the “overload” that Moxon was referring to. What does Minshew do? Exactly what Moxon was going to do, burn them one-on-one on the backside. Minshew throws a slant route to D.J. Chark, who uses tremendous hand strength to hang on for the touchdown.
The two young offensive players, and their offensive coordinator’s designs, are making the Jaguars must-watch television.
I enter every single piece I write with a simple goal: To convince the reader of something. Whether it deals with a draft eligible quarterback, an offensive scheme, or the execution of a blitz, I want the reader to come away believing in what I have put in front of them. My goal here is the same. I want you to be excited to watch Thursday Night Football when you’re done reading.
This is not an easy task.
The jokes on Twitter and the snickering in living rooms began almost a week ago, when the promotions began airing for the Miami Dolphins and the Jacksonville Jaguars, our two teams set to square off tomorrow night. They were everywhere. Take a few minutes on Twitter or Google and search for yourself, but come on back here when you are done.
I’m here to tell you, this game is must-watch from where I sit.
The Jacksonville quarterback has become one of football’s more engaging personalities, but anyone who saw him during his draft process, particularly down at the Senior Bowl, could have seen this coming. Minshew quickly won over the football media world at his Media Day session, talking about playing for Mike Leach, the chip on his shoulder, and working progression reads in an Air Raid offense.
But beyond the persona there was something fascinating about Minshew on film, dating back to his time at Washington State under Leach. His footwork:
Air Raid quarterbacks are notorious for having footwork problems, particularly in their mastery of the pocket. Minshew defied that conventional wisdom. His ability to flow from read to read while keeping his feet under him, ready to throw, was more in line with your traditional dropback quarterbacks in “pro style offenses” – whatever that term means – than a Mike Leach Air Raid passer.
Through two games he has completed 49 of 65 passes (a completion percentage of 75.4%) and 512 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions. His NFL passer rating of 115.7 is seventh in the league, and his touchdown passes tie him for second behind only Russell Wilson, and in a group that contains Aaron Rodgers and another scorching-hot quarterback, Josh Allen.
That footwork is a huge reason why Minshew is off to his hot start:
Your weekly dose of Gardner Minshew footwork
*Sliding and resetting *Responding to pressure *The "two-handed monster" in the pocket pic.twitter.com/RFN5L7lrPo
On those plays against the Tennessee Titans, you can see how Minshew’s footwork keeps him in position to be successful, even when responding to pressure from the defense. He keeps his feet under him, works through reads, and evades the pressure slightly, creating just enough space to get off a throw from the pocket.
His footwork also puts those around him in a position to be successful, particularly when it comes to accurate ball placement and how he manipulates defenders in the secondary:
Minshew’s quick and precise footwork sets up defenders in the secondary, but also enables him to put the ball where it needs to for his receivers to make plays after the catch.
One of those receivers? Rookie Laviska Shenault Jr.
Offensive coordinator Jay Gruden deserves a ton of credit not only for how he has put Minshew in position to be successful but also for how he has utilized the rookie wide receiver. Gruden has run a mixture of West Coast and Air Raid passing concepts to give Minshew some defined reads in the passing game, but he has also been very creative with Shenault. The rookie has been used on 74 offensive plays, and has aligned in the offensive backfield as a running back, in the Wildcat as a quarterback, in the slot, in a wing and outside on the boundary.
So far this season Shenault has six receptions for 72 yards and a touchdown, as well as seven rushing attempts for 47 yards. This video dives into the various ways Gruden is using the rookie:
Excited to watch Laviska Shenault tomorrow night:
*Varied alignments *Wildcat *Outside zone *Routes from the slot *Stop routes and good change of direction on the outside pic.twitter.com/7iGioYfiWR
As the league moves closer and closer to an era of “positionless football,” Shenault might just be the offensive player for the modern age. Think about how opposing defensive coordinators have to approach Jacksonville. With Shenault in the game do you treat him as a wide receiver, and play a sub package? Or do you treat him as a running back, and play base. If you go with a sub package, Gruden can align him as a running back and test your light defensive fronts. But if you play base, Gruden can dial up passing concepts to stress your linebackers.
Either way, you are likely to be wrong.
So hopefully at this point you are excited to see this game Thursday night. Minshew’s footwork in the pockets, Shenault’s versatility and Gruden’s schematic diversity are three big reasons to watch. However, if you still are not convinced there is one more big reason:
Ryan Fitzpatrick's full comments on mustache vs. beard. This is personal huh. Let the games begin. pic.twitter.com/A5ILELwlM0
That’s right, we have a quarterback facial hair battle brewing! Dolphins passer Ryan Fitzpatrick threw down the gauntlet in defense of beards earlier this week.
As you might expect, Minshew was quick to respond, generally playing it coy but with some shade thrown in:
"I can grow a beard with no patchy sides but you know I'm going to have respect for my elders especially when they are… much… much… elder"
Jay Gruden believes D.J. Chark has a balanced skill set, which makes him a receiver who has little to no weakness.
Jacksonville Jaguars offensive coordinator Jay Gruden may only be in his first year with the team, but it appears that he is already witnessing the talent that is on the roster.
After giving solid praise to sixth-round rookie quarterback Jake Luton by calling him the “biggest pleasant surprise” of training camp, Gruden shifted his focus to wide receiver D.J Chark. The veteran coordinator had highly glowing remarks about the third-year Pro Bowl receiver, who has a rare skill set you won’t find often in the league.
“Not really, he’s a different cat,” Gruden said to the media when asked if Chark compared to any other receivers he knew. “No, he’s very — he’s still a young player and he’s doing some great things. He can attack defenses a lot of different ways and from a lot of different positions, which is good. He’s got a great knowledge of the offense, he can play outside, obviously. We’re moving him around a little bit so he’s doing good inside. He’s just a good all-around player, but he’s also excellent to coach because he knows he has work to do and he wants to be great.”
Additionally, another key with Chark is his bond with Minshew which has translated to the practice field over the last few weeks. In fact, Minshew has been able to link up with Chark so frequently, it appears the young receiver could end up being the Jags training camp MVP.
While Chark is known for his electric speed, Gruden also discussed how complete of a receiver he is overall, adding that it’s hard to find a hole in his game when evaluating him:
“It’s one thing being a talented player with speed and size and have great hands, but it’s another to want to come out early and work hard and really dominate the offense from a mental standpoint. And then obviously know how to work your releases, and bump and run, and outside leverage, inside leverage, from the slot, from outside, different types of route stems that we have, that are very important. He’s done a great job with all of that,” Gruden said.”
“He’s got a skill set that you want, he’s got the size, he’s got the speed, he’s got the athletic ability, he knows how to run routes, he knows how to set up routes, obviously he can attack the football and run after the catch. So, trying to find a weakness with DJ, it’s going to be hard for me to find one.”
Chark is coming off of the best season of his career after compiling 73 receptions, 1,008 receiving yards and eight touchdowns en route to his first Pro Bowl appearance. With more big-bodied threats around him and Chris Conley in the receiving corps like Laviska Shenault Jr., Collin Johnson, and veteran tight end Tyler Eifert, there could be a chance for him to better those numbers in 2020. Add in the fact that he’ll be eligible for a new contract in 2021 and it appears Gruden could be getting a player who not only is just scratching the surface talent-wise, but one who will be super hungry.
It goes without saying Gardner Minshew is the guy for the Jacksonville Jaguars heading into 2020, but there is uncertainty behind him at quarterback. The team also have veterans Joshua Dobbs and Mike Glennon on the roster, but neither has distanced …
It goes without saying Gardner Minshew is the guy for the Jacksonville Jaguars heading into 2020, but there is uncertainty behind him at quarterback. The team also have veterans Joshua Dobbs and Mike Glennon on the roster, but neither has distanced themselves or built a notable buzz from TIAA Bank Field.
One quarterback who has, however, is sixth-round rookie Jake Luton, at least according to offensive coordinator Jay Gruden. In his virtual meeting with the media Friday, Gruden called the young signal-caller the “biggest pleasant surprise” of the Jags’ training camp so far.
“Yes, I think that’s been the biggest pleasant surprise, I would say is his ability to come in here and learn,” Gruden said when asked if Luton was ahead of expectations. “He plays with great poise and confidence for a young player. We put him in the number one huddle a couple times, and he has shown no sign of being intimidated. He fits right in there, like I said, he’s got great accuracy, he’s got great arm strength, so we’ve been very impressed with him.”
One thing that was clear when the Jags drafted Luton was he had the prototypical size at 6-foot-6, 224-pounds. Evidently, those physical tools have translated well.
Luton’s play is certainly encouraging news as coach Doug Marrone said there was no clear cut No. 2 guy behind Minshew over a week ago, according to John Reid of the Florida Times-Union. That said, it appears Luton has upped his play lately and several media members have caught on.
Marrone said no clear cut favorite has emerged yet for the top backup QB job behind Gardner Minshew pic.twitter.com/9QBlzHfpR6
#Jaguars sixth-round rookie Jake Luton impressing me again. Two quality throws downfield not rewarded. Marvelle Ross can’t make a diving catch most NFL receivers would and then on the next play Collin Johnson flat out drops a bomb.
Gruden was also asked about whether or not he thought the team would keep three quarterbacks and stated that it would ultimately come down to Marrone and general manager Dave Caldwell, though he’d like to keep three.
“Well, I’m always going to give my opinion, but at the end of the day, it’s up to Coach [Doug] Marrone and obviously [General Manager] Dave Caldwell and they’ll have the final say,” said Gruden. “But, if I have my way, I definitely want to keep three. With all of the things going on in the world today, with the Coronavirus, you never know what’s going to happen.”
The Jags are approaching the two-week mark before the season so Luton’s name will be one to watch closely heading forward. If he continues the growth we’ve witnessed over the last few weeks, he could very well boot Mike Glennon or Joshua Dobbs out of the mix.
