Jay Gruden stood at the podium with his gray “NFC East Champions” hat pulled snug on his head and his shoulders still damp from the orange Gatorade bath he received moments earlier.
After the Washington Redskins’ 38-24 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Saturday night, he was asked to reflect on what he felt after being able to celebrate winning the division title.
“I’ll tell you what,” Gruden said before he paused. “I am going to lose a lot of years on my life coaching this football game here, man. There’s so many ups and downs. You’re just so happy for these guys.”
However many years Gruden figured he lost, he sure gained some of them back as Saturday night crawled into Sunday morning. The Redskins arrived in Ashburn at the team’s facility around 2:30 a.m., when they were greeted by a crowd of adoring fans.
“Oh, man, that was awesome,” Gruden said Sunday afternoon. “There was a ton of people there. It was a great experience and we are all still riding high. To see our supporters come out like that in hundreds and hundreds, it was a great experience for everybody, man. The young guys, the veterans, I know they felt excited. They had their camera phones out taking pictures and videos. The coaches were too. It was a great experience.”
Throughout the rigors of the regular season, there’s hardly any time for coaches to reflect on what they’ve accomplished. Often, they are consumed by the game planning and constant evaluation of others.
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For Gruden, Sunday morning offered a rare opportunity to soak in all the emotion that followed what he and the Redskins accomplished on Saturday night. Gruden, in his second season after a 4-12 stint in 2014, steered the Redskins to a division title — just the second worst-to-first turnaround in franchise history. The other was in 2012.
Gruden kept his team laser-focused this year as it endured many ups and downs, including a significant number of injuries that required constant readjusting. One of the defining moments of the season occurred at the end of August, when Gruden named Kirk Cousins the team’s starting quarterback — a decision Gruden would have to live with as Cousins endured growing pains.
There were certainly times this season when Gruden, 48, seemed particularly worn, like after the Redskins were throttled by the Carolina Panthers, 44-16, on Nov. 22. At the time, it was their fifth consecutive road loss and Gruden’s 12th in his first 13 road games.
Since then, the Redskins have won four of their last five, including three consecutive wins and two road games. Gruden got to bask in the success, if only for a brief while.
“We had a nice fun plane ride back,” Gruden said. “The fans meeting us at our facility was excellent. After the game, I had my family there in the basement at my house. We sat there and chatted for a while, had a few drinks and reflected on the whole situation, laughed about some of the things that went on. But now, it’s really get back to work already.”
Getting back to work means balancing preparations for the regular-season finale against the Dallas Cowboys with trying to prepare for potential playoff opponents. Gruden said he has not yet decided which starters will rest, if any, next Sunday. However, he remained adamant that all 46 players that ultimately dress for that final game will be prepared to compete, regardless of the circumstances.
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“It means a lot to a lot of these players and a lot of these fans here and coaches to get this win and to keep our winning streak alive and to keep that momentum alive going into the playoffs,” Gruden said.
Getting back to work also means being hard on himself for miscues like the blunder before halftime on Saturday. With the Redskins holding onto a 16-10 lead at the Eagles’ six-yard line with six seconds remaining, Cousins inexplicably took a knee and ran out the clock.
According to Gruden, the play was designed to be one last shot at the end zone on a back-shoulder fade pass to wide receiver Pierre Garcon. If that failed, the Redskins felt they’d have time to attempt a field goal. When the ball was snapped, Cousins didn’t like the defensive look, according to Gruden, and that’s when Cousins took the knee because he thought the Redskins had a timeout remaining.
Though it was Cousins’ fault — the quarterbacked called it a lapse in decision-making after the game — Gruden held himself accountable.
“If there was any confusion, the coach has to take full responsibility,” Gruden said. “That’s on me to make sure everybody is understanding what’s going on and how many timeouts we have and the objective of the play. If there’s any confusion there, I’ve got to take the blame and correct it for next time.
Later, Gruden added: “I’m learning from every game that I watch on tape and every situation. The big situation at halftime, we’ll learn from that son of a gun, that’s for sure, and just continue to make sure I get myself better, and never feel satisfied in this business because the happiness doesn’t last for very long.”
On Sunday, that happiness lasted just long enough for Gruden to savor.
• Anthony Gulizia can be reached at agulizia@washingtontimes.com.
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