Robert Griffin III may find himself standing on the sideline this weekend when the Washington Redskins take on the Atlanta Falcons. On Monday, Redskins coach Mike Shanahan told the media that he has considered benching Griffin for the remainder of the season to protect his health. Shanahan’s remarks were followed with speculation that team owner Daniel Snyder would never allow something like that to happen.
According to Mark Maske of the Washington Post, Snyder would not stand in Shanahan’s way if he chose to go with Kirk Cousins over RG3.
“He won’t step in and interfere with that,” a person familiar with the situation reportedly told Maske on Tuesday. “He’s not going to step into a personnel decision that way.”
The belief all along has been that the relationship between Snyder and Griffin has created problems for Snyder and Shanahan. In other words, Snyder expects RG3 to be the quarterback of the future for the Redskins. If Shanahan and his son — offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan — cannot find a way to win with Griffin, both will likely be fired. Most people expect them to be fired after the season ends, at the latest.
As Maske noted, Snyder may be inclined to let Shanahan bench RG3 because he agrees with the reasoning — not because he is opposed to pressuring his head coach into a certain personnel decision. Griffin has been getting hammered over the past several games and always looks one hit away from another major injury. The Redskins are currently 3-10. Why risk it?
