“You know the culture is actually damn good,” Redskins president Bruce Allen (above right with owner Dan Snyder) said yesterday. “Last year at this time we’re in first place and we’re doing well, so it was working pretty damn good. Unfortunately our quarterback got injured. The pieces are here for a winning team. We have to put them in the right place.”
By Harvey Hoffman
So the Redskins fired Jay Gruden yesterday because of his 35-49-1 record in five-plus years in Washington.
The Redskins won the NFC East under Gruden in 2015 and went 22-25-1 in the ensuing three years, leaving him on the hot seat. An 0-5 start this season doomed him. Gruden was fired around 5:30 a.m.
“We had much different expectations,” Allen said.
But a big part of Allen’s 13-minute news conference involved questions about his own record in nearly 10 years with the Redskins, as well as Snyder’s overall mark. In Allen’s nine seasons, the Redskins are 59-89-1. The Redskins are 139-185-1 under Snyder with two playoff wins.
“We’re all involved in this,” Allen said. “I don’t ever want to hide from our record. I don’t want to hide from things that didn’t go the way we wanted them to go. All we can do is work. And do I believe in the group that’s here? Yes.”
The Redskins were hit hard by injuries the past two seasons, with a combined 52 players having gone on injured reserve. They have 10 players on injured reserve this season, including quarterback Alex Smith. Also, Pro Bowl tackle Trent Williams remains a holdout and Allen said they have no plans at this time to trade him. Tight end Jordan Reed has missed all five games with a concussion.
Sunday, the Redskins’ home stadium was overrun with Patriots fans, who seemed to outnumber Washington’s fans.
“All we can do is try to improve our product,” Allen said. “These games, we weren’t close in. We’ve lost five games and we didn’t lose them in the last second. We lost these games decisively. And we have to change that. And our fans deserve that. And this market deserves that. We’re in the nation’s capital, and it deserves better than that, and we have to get it done.”
Allen defended the Redskins’ culture, which has come under fire over the years. Allen pointed to a 6-3 record a year ago, before Smith suffered a leg injury that left his career in jeopardy.
“You know the culture is actually damn good,” Allen said. “Last year at this time we’re in first place and we’re doing well, so it was working pretty damn good. Unfortunately our quarterback got injured. The pieces are here for a winning team. We have to put them in the right place.”
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