Redskins Veteran Backs Coach Jay Gruden's Blunt Assessment Of The Defense

Head coach Jay Gruden was a fixture of the Redskins news cycle this week after he tore the defense a new one verbally in a press conference following the team's 29-26 loss to the Minnesota Vikings last Sunday.

After the Washigton Redskins' defense gave up 29 points to a Minnesota Vikings offense that is usually one step below mediocre, Gruden used the word "sickening" four times to assess the effort of his entire defensive unit.

“I love it because you know what you’re getting,” veteran linebacker Adam Hayward said, via Liz Clarke of the Washington Post. “A coach like that, you know what he wants, what he expects. If you don’t give it, he’s going to let you know. He’s not going to beat around the bush and sugar-coat things and be like, ‘Well, this was good and that was…’"

Even more frustrating for Gruden was the fact that he has seen what the defense is capable of. Take the team's 20-17 overtime victory over the Dallas Cowboys on the Monday night prior. The defense played like a unit possessed, dominating key points of that game en route to a victory.

“Jay knows what he wants,” Hayward said of Gruden's critiques. “He’s going to give you respect. But if you don’t do what you’re supposed to do, he’s gonna let you know. It’s business. You don’t take it personally. He’s not attacking you as a person; he’s attacking you as a football player.”

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