Washington Commanders

How long will Redskins let RG3 waste away on the bench?

Published Oct. 19, 2015 1:19 p.m. ET

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By Rachel Wold

The 2-4 Washington Redskins let another one get away in Week 6 when they collapsed down the stretch on the road against the New York Jets, losing 34-20.

The loss was highlighted by another inept performance from Kirk Cousins, who once again managed to throw multiple interceptions — his fourth game in 2015 with at least two interceptions — along with one lone touchdown. Meanwhile, backup Robert Griffin III watched the team’s demise from the bench.

As a technicality, Griffin was in uniform and was active in Sunday’s game, thanks to a devastating rash of injuries that hit Washington. However, there was nothing “active” about him, other than helping to keep Cousins warmed up on the sidelines.

Griffin seems resolved to play the role of company man, despite the way the club has treated him since the beginning of preseason.

“Whatever they ask me to do … it’s my job. I’m here to support the team,” he said via NFL.com. “Not expecting anything. It’s not my call. I was not expecting it.”

Seemingly oblivious to Cousins’ sub-par performances and the losing state of the team, head coach Jay Gruden is currently glued to the the quarterback as the team’s starter.

“We’ll have to look at the film,” Gruden said. “I’d like to see what happens when we get our full cast of characters back. There were opportunities for Kirk to make some plays. He missed some throws. We have spent a lot of time, invested a lot of time this season in Kirk. We stand behind Kirk. We’ll see what happens next week with Tampa.”

Gruden was asked if Cousins would remain the starter for the rest of the season.

“Yeah. That’s the intent.”

To give Cousins a bit of credit, the team was missing six starters on Sunday and the offense managed only 34 rushing yards on 17 attempts, which didn’t present the best of conditions for him to perform.

However, his uncanny knack for throwing ridiculous interceptions isn’t helping the team. Backup Colt McCoy is not the long-term answer to the team’s success, and RG3 is wasting away on the bench, even though he still might be the team’s best answer at the quarterback position.

Yet, Gruden wants to trudge ahead with Cousins — the turnover machine — under center. And, despite his ill-fated errors and untimely mental lapses of judgement, Cousins isn’t going to second-guess himself.

“If I start to question or doubt myself, I might as well throw in the towel,” he said.

Unfortunately, throwing in the towel appears to be what Washington has already done with their former first-round draft pick from 2012. Despite his faults, RG3 was never as turnover-prone as Cousins, who is just killing the team’s chances to win.

Gruden needs to take a reality check because Washington could be having more success in an NFC east division that is still up for grabs.

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