The signs were there all summer. And on the last day of August, Washington coach Jay Gruden—in a move that close observers of the team felt was a long time coming, in part because it runs against owner Daniel Snyder’s grain—yanked Robert Griffin III from the starting quarterback job.
Kirk Cousins, the 102nd pick in the 2012 draft, plays. Griffin, the second pick in the 2012 draft, sits.
At Washington's training camp in Richmond, Va., exactly a month ago, I ran into Gruden. He said the team was going to support Griffin and give him every chance to succeed, and not put all the pressure of the offense or the franchise on him.