The tension in Washington, D.C. is rising and not in a good way. Winning makes things better but what happens when a team isn’t winning? The blame game starts.
D.J. Swearinger stated after the game that practices were “blah,” and the team was not ready, even in pregame. Swearinger didn’t call any of his teammates out directly but noted his frustration.
“I try to get the defense ready as much as I can, but you’ve got to prepare yourself,” Swearinger said. “We’re all pros. Jay can say what he wants to say, but we’re pros and we have to prepare ourselves the way we know how to play. Older guys should know. They should know how to prepare. We should trickle it down to the guys who don’t know how to prepare. We need to do something to figure this out to get better.”
Josh Norman was also vividly upset after the game, per reports. Norman, like Swearinger, was not willing to throw any teammates under the bus, but, Norman made it clear where he stood as well. “I came here to win a championship,” he told the Washington Post. “If we’re not doing that, what are we doing? Why are we here?”
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It didn’t stop there with Norman. According to The Score, he went out to say this; “I’m not going to be a part of something that’s not going to go forward and win a championship,” Norman continued. “That’s serious. I don’t care about the money, I don’t care about the fame, I don’t care about anything. The only thing I care about is that ring. You can strip me however you want to; strip all the titles I have to my name. If I don’t win a championship, that means it’s all for nothing.”
The frustration obviously doesn’t end with Norman or Swearinger. It continued with Ryan Kerrigan who gets held on seemingly every play.
NBCSports Washington’s JP Finlay caught up with Kerrigan after the game and the full video of that is below.
I asked Ryan Kerrigan what it’s like to be held on every play. He revealed how frustrating it is (VID) https://t.co/SAHubw1z3n pic.twitter.com/1kniMcigf5
— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) December 11, 2017
Entering Sunday’s contest, the Washington Redskins (5-8) had a one percent chance to make the playoffs. However, all they needed to do was go across the country to Los Angeles and defeat the red-hot Chargers and avoid being struck down. That all lasted for about 20 seconds. The only thing the Redskins won Sunday was the coin toss.
Who’s to blame for the loss then? If you ask Junior Galette, he will say the team.
I hate when the fans blame coaches for players performance be real man the players need to be accountable at all costs #HAIL58 #FREE58
— Junior Galette (@JovaisG) December 11, 2017
Bashaud Breeland passed blame. However, it was on himself. He, like Galette, expressed his words via Twitter.
Blame me
— Bashaud Breeland (@Bree2Land6) December 11, 2017
According to former Redskins’ tight end, Chris Cooley, Redskins head coach Jay Gruden directly stated to his team that he would take the blame for the loss.
With a towel over his head and visibly in pain, Zach Brown rode the cart off of the field. After the game, Brown wore a walking boot as he left the stadium on crutches.
Gruden stated on his conference call on Monday that Brown will have an MRI on his foot.
As for the rest of the injuries, linebacker Chris Carter will have surgery on his fractured fibula. In addition, Byron Marshall and Ryan Grant are listed as day-to-day. Marshall hurt his hamstring returning a kickoff when his foot got caught in the turf.
It’s not just the players that deserve blame, it is the entire team. Let’s be real for a second here. No sugar coating. Want to point blame? Then here is where it starts. From the owner to the general manager, to the coaching staff, to the players. Everyone involved in everyday operations is at fault.
With that said, is it time for Gruden to go?
Redskins fans deserve better. Plain and simple.
