Jay Gruden has Robert Griffin III on as short a leash as possible

Washington Redskins head coach Jay Gruden on Monday said that Robert Griffin III will start this weekend against the Indianapolis Colts — kind of.

During his weekly interview with Comcast SportsNet, Gruden gave RG3 the most half-hearted endorsement imaginable. While Gruden said he has “every intent” of starting Griffin, he still made it seem like the decision was subject to change.

“Well, we want to beat Indianapolis,” Gruden said, via Dan Steinberg of DC Sports Bog. “We want to win every game. And I have to put the people in there who [are] gonna help us win those games. And we’re gonna seriously go down and look at this film, look at last week’s film, look at Minnesota’s film, look at Houston’s film, and try to put a plan together that will help him succeed. Or we’ll have to find out if somebody else is there that can help us beat Indianapolis instead.”

[Related: RG3 has reportedly lost VIP privileges with Redskins]

In other words, Gruden is still open to benching RG3 — before Sunday or during the game. When asked specifically if a change at quarterback is possible, Gruden reiterated that Griffin is the guy “right now.”

“At this time, right now, Robert’s my guy, right now,” he said. “We’re still gonna watch this film and evaluate what we’re doing as an offense, and then we’ll have to figure out what players at what positions are going to play and start to give us the best chance against Indianapolis.”

Anyone who believes that RG3 is Gruden’s guy hasn’t been paying attention. You don’t need film to show you that Griffin has played poorly over the past two games. If he struggles again on Sunday, there’s no reason to believe he won’t be benched in favor of Colt McCoy.