Maybe the Washington Redskins’ quarterback situation is a bigger mess than anyone thought.
Two days after head coach Mike Shanahan benched Donovan McNabb in favor of Rex Grossman in the final two minutes of Washington’s game in Detroit, the Redskins are giving former No. 1 overall bust JaMarcus Russell a tryout.
It’s one thing to bench your 6-time Pro Bowl quarterback for Rex Grossman, it’s another to actually give JaMarcus Russell a tryout. What is Shanahan thinking?
The Redskins have a bye this week and questions already started to swirl about McNabb’s status with Shanahan. If Shanahan thought Grossman gave his team a better chance to win with two minutes remaining on the clock and the Skins only down by a touchdown, what does that say about McNabb? Grossman may have led the Bears to the Super Bowl in ’06, but that was more a product of Chicago’s defense and Devin Hester’s return abilities – not Grossman’s play at quarterback.
There are already rumblings that this will be McNabb’s first and last season in Washington. Given Shanahan’s actions over the past two days, it’s hard not to buy into that notion. I don’t know what Shanahan thinks he’s going to find in Russell besides a QB with a big arm but little to nothing else.