Jay Gruden says Kirk Cousins 'hasn't played up to' the team's high expectations
The Washington Redskins have become the laughingstock of the NFL through two weeks. Their offense is anemic, and their defense was torn apart for not putting Josh Norman on Antonio Brown for every snap in Week 1
Kirk Cousins, however, has been the driving force behind the team’s struggles. He’s the worst red zone quarterback in the league, and his passer rating has dropped from 101.6 last season to 78.5 in 2016. To make matters worse, there are reports that he’s coming dangerously close to losing the locker room with players expressing significant frustration over Cousins’ play.
A combination of unrest from his teammates and the inability to get Washington into the end zone has put serious pressure on the second-year starter. If that weren't enough, his head coach Jay Gruden has called him a work in progress and says folks are wrong for thinking he’s a top quarterback.
Gruden backpedaled just a tad on that Tuesday, saying Cousins just needs to relax and play the game. However, it still wasn't exactly a complimentary statement from Gruden.
This is nowhere near a vote of confidence for Cousins, something he hasn’t unequivocally received from his head coach. The main reason is that Gruden has such high expectations for Cousins after last year’s breakout season, but he has yet to meet them.
Gruden isn’t necessarily going as far as he did with Robert Griffin III, whom he played mind games with and eventually threw under the bus. But it’s hard to imagine things aren’t getting testy in that Redskins locker room.
Cousins isn’t playing well and is being questioned by everyone, including his coaching staff. The best thing for him right now would be a lights-out performance on Sunday and complete unquestioned loyalty from Gruden, ensuring Cousins that he’s “the guy.” Until then, Cousins will feel pressured to do more than he can handle.
