Washington Redskins cornerback Quinton Dunbar was the first player to send a public message regarding coach Jay Gruden’s firing Monday morning.
Dunbar posted a photo of himself and Gruden to his Instagram and said he “owed” Gruden for helping him stick in the NFL.
“I’m thankful for you coach, if you wouldn’t have made me switch to db 5 years ago during training camp i don’t know where I be right now, but look at me now,” Dunbar wrote. “I owe you coach for life sorry we couldn’t get the job done for you (expletive) crazy.” He added a heartbreak emoji at the end of the caption.
Throughout his tenure, Gruden was viewed as a players’ coach. After Sunday’s 33-7 loss to the New England Patriots, running back Chris Thompson got emotional and started crying when talking about the possibility of Gruden’s firing.
“It’s frustrating, of course,” Thompson said. “It’s something that’s tough to think about with that situation. I really care about Jay.”
Chris Thompson broke into tears when discussing Gruden after the game pic.twitter.com/rlsUNHTl0U
— Matthew Paras (@Matthew_Paras) October 6, 2019
But as Thompson’s tears seemed to imply, players felt this was coming after Washington’s 0-5 start.
ESPN reporters Dianna Russini and Josina Anderson said unidentified Redskins players generally felt this was inevitable. The players Anderson talked to, however, appeared to blame Gruden for a culture of laziness at practice.
Redskins player to me on coaching change: “It was time. Too much laziness & stubborn *%#@ going on around here. Folks not taking #@$! serious. Looking at snap chat during practice, come on now. You know who I’m talking about. Guys were talking about it. We’ll see how it goes.”
— ig: josinaanderson (@JosinaAnderson) October 7, 2019
Another #Skins player checks in: “Gruden is a good dude, but you can tell he saw the writing on the wall though. Players like him, it just got a little too laid back here lately & sometimes that can bite you in the butt. I’ve seen some things here I’ve never seen on other teams.”
— ig: josinaanderson (@JosinaAnderson) October 7, 2019
A starter told Russini: “If they think (firing Gruden) will make us better this season, it won’t.”
Reaching out to Redskins players over text and they all knew this was coming. One starter said “if they think this will make us better this season, it won’t” Another added “someone had to take the blame” #Redskins
— Dianna (@diannaESPN) October 7, 2019
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
• Adam Zielonka can be reached at azielonka@washingtontimes.com.
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