Washington Commanders

Jay Gruden: Defensive Lapses Cause Redskins Loss

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Jay Gruden and the Washington Redskins were stunned by the Detroit Lions in a Week 7 loss. Gruden cites lapses on the team’s prevent defense as reasons for the defeat.

Jay Gruden and the Washington Redskins were set for their 5th straight win after QB Kirk Cousins pushed the team ahead in the final moments of Sunday’s game. The feelings of victory were short-lived, however, when Lions QB Matthew Stafford drove 75 yards in 6 plays for a game-winning touchdown.

Gruden commented on the lack of pass rushing called against Stafford throughout the game and especially during the game-winning drive.

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I think when you look back at the call you’d like to get more people around Matthew. He does a great job of buying time and then finding seams and holes in the zone. He almost threw a touchdown earlier, scrambling out to his right because we didn’t get a lot of pressure on him. But at that time we were playing against the clock obviously; we wanted to stop a check-down so we decided to drop eight.

While defenses lapses played a large part in the 20-17 loss to the Lions, Redskins RB Matt Jones also struggled to convert at key moments throughout the game. 1 of his 2 fumbles occurred in the redzone during a scoring opportunity for the Redskins.

We can’t keep addressing [Jones’ fumbling] though. He’s got to understand the importance of the ball.

Gruden and the offense will have to decide what to do with Jones moving forward. His inconsistency has lead to speculation surrounding his starting job. Robert Kelley and Chris Thompson have also both shown that they are reliable backs.

The Redskins face the 3-4 Cincinnati Bengals in Cincinnati Week 8. Gruden will reevaluate the running back situation and the defensive play calling before facing the Bengals. He has stated that they don’t want to overdo Thompson’s workload and risk an injury, so Jones could maintain enough touches to redeem himself next week.

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