Washington Redskins head coach Jay Gruden made it clear in February that he was looking at former first-round pick Robert Griffin III as the starter heading into 2015. Despite that edict, it sounds like things in D.C. aren't going to be as cut-and-dried for the rest of the Redskins signal-callers.
In fact, Gruden revealed recently that he's expecting the Redskins back-up quarterback battle between Kirk Cousins and Colt McCoy to extend "deep" into training camp.
"Very deeply," Gruden said, via Tarik El-Bashir of CSNWashington.com. "You know, we have those four preseason games and that's really going to tell the tale. We have training camp. We'll get a lot of reps in training camp, and when Houston comes [to Richmond for joint practices] we'll get a great look at them. ... The second and third quarterback will be decided then."
Cousins and McCoy have, per El-Bashir, rotated leading the second team thus far in Redskins offseason work.
"You saw Colt do some great things today," Gruden said. "Kirk did some good things yesterday. Both of them are making their case known."
"Both of them have had a taste of the starting quarterback job in the NFL and they both want it back real bad," Gruden added. "They're doing an excellent job at competing every day. It's killing them on the inside, I know it."
Cousins, a fourth-round pick in the same draft that landed Griffin, appeared in six games last year, starting five. He appeared to be stating his case for a full-time shot at the starting gig with his first two starts, but quickly fell back to earth after tossing nine interceptions.
McCoy started four games of his own and despite being lauded by Gruden for his preparation and overall efforts, proved ultimately inconsistent and finished with just five total touchdowns and nine total turnovers.
While the back-up quarterback competition usually garners little in the way of media attention, it's especially important in Washington where Griffin's grip on the starting role is tenuous at best and his propensity for injury makes it likely that one of either Cousins or McCoy will start at least a handful of games.
