While this season was always going to be about rebuilding under new coach Jay Gruden, the Washington Redskins are at an all-too-familiar crossroads following a 27-7 trouncing by Tampa Bay on Sunday — one of their more humiliating losses in recent memory.
The Redskins committed several errors against the Buccaneers, who entered Sunday with just one victory in their first nine games. The first play of Washington’s first five drives resulted in an interception, a penalty, another penalty, a 9-yard run and a penalty.
They were charged with nine penalties, including four false starts, three by wide receivers, as well as an illegal block above the waist and an illegal formation. There were also two interceptions thrown by quarterback Robert Griffin III, a fumble lost by running back Roy Helu, and a muffed punt return by wide receiver Andre Roberts, who managed to recover the ball.
That performance came after the Redskins, now 3-7, had two weeks to prepare for a team that entered the game ranked 27th in the league in points scored, 31st in points allowed, 29th in yards gained and 29th in yards allowed.
Per terms of the collective bargaining agreement, players are mandated to have five consecutive days off from team activities during a bye week, though those restrictions do not apply to coaches, many of whom were at Redskins Park preparing a game plan and engaging in other evaluations during the week.
When players returned, many spoke of needing the five-day break to clear their minds, escape from their frustrations and regain focus for the final seven games of the season. Whatever focus they gathered, however, was not evident during the course of the week.
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“I think people are confused,” said free safety Ryan Clark, who returned to the Redskins in April after eight years in Pittsburgh, where he won the Super Bowl after the 2008 season. “We were 3-13 last year for a reason. Jay had to come in, and it’s a hard transition. So, this transition isn’t necessarily, ’Do you want to win a Super Bowl?’ Yeah. But this transition is not about winning a Super Bowl so much as it is changing the culture, changing the way men work.”
After the game, defensive end Jason Hatcher was asked if the Redskins’ performance against Tampa Bay was a reflection of the way the team practiced during the week. Hatcher, in his ninth season and first in Washington, ranks second on the team with four sacks.
“I don’t want to speak on that,” Hatcher said. “I really don’t.”
In recent weeks, some players have made allusions to others a relaxed approach during practice — something Gruden tried to stem late last month by adjusting the daily schedule, especially on Thursdays, to keep players focused.
Gruden said Monday that the four practices last week were “pretty good,” but that, for some reason, such attention and motivation did not carry over to the game.
“We’ve just got to make sure we continue to monitor our practices, make sure the tempo is good, make sure the fundamentals are sound, and continue coaching these guys up and not let anything get swept under the rug if things go wrong,” Gruden said. “Maybe we did that too much last week. I’ll go back and watch it and see.”
That relaxed attitude has carried into the locker room, where several players have decided that their approach, regardless of results, doesn’t matter away from the practice field or meeting room. Following the 27-17 loss to Seattle, some were cheerful enough, to the consternation of others, to consider a 10-point loss to the defending Super Bowl champions as some type of victory.
Before the Redskins faced Minnesota, a handful of players decided to tease senior vice president of communications Tony Wyllie, the team spokesman and its public relations director, loud enough to interrupt Griffin’s first organized meeting with reporters since his ankle injury in early September.
And early last week, players affixed a small, plastic basketball hoop, complete with the Redskins logo on the clear backboard, seven feet up on a pillar near the front of the locker room. On Friday afternoon, four players, including two who are frequently injured, found themselves in a spirited, intense game of 21, which mixes a free throw contest with 3-on-1.
It’s not that the players don’t care, and Gruden insisted Monday that is not the case.
“When practice is over, practice is over,” Gruden said. “When meetings are over, meetings are over, whether they go home and play Xbox or study tape or have dinner with their wives and kids or [play] a quick game of ’Horse’ before they leave. That’s no reflection on how they perform on Sunday. Once the meetings and practice is over, they’re free to unwind however they see fit.”
Wide receiver Santana Moss, during a weekly appearance on 106.7 The Fan last Tuesday, responded to the constant discussion of leadership and conduct by saying that players should be allowed to “kick back and do what we do when we’re not on the field.”
“That’s our locker room,” Moss said.
Players, on the whole, enjoy playing for Gruden, who has never overseen a prolonged period of losing during his previous stints coaching or playing in a variety of minor leagues. A variety of people who have played for or coached with Gruden have said his ability to communicate and relate to others have made him endearing, but those same qualities have also relaxed his ability to discipline when necessary.
It could take until the offseason, when the Redskins are able to sign and draft new players, before Gruden is able to help continue reshaping the direction of the franchise. That’s still no guarantee the Redskins, who have lost seven of their first 10 games for the fourth time in the last six seasons, will cease being content with losing.
“We took a major step backwards,” Gruden said. “We’ve got to figure out a way to make sure we continue to show some improvement and put [Sunday] behind us and figure out ways we can get better so we have something to feel good about as we finish the season.”
• Zac Boyer can be reached at zboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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