Colt McCoy to start preseason finale for Redskins, Kirk Cousins will sit
By Dan Zinski
If you believe Joe Theismann and others, Kirk Cousins has been a better QB than Robert Griffin III this preseason and should be the starter for the Washington Redskins.
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Cousins might have had one last chance to fuel the controversy Thursday night in the Redskins’ preseason finale but Jay Gruden is reportedly shutting that prospect down entirely by having Cousins sit out.
Third-string QB Colt McCoy will get the start and Cousins will play only in the event of injury. Robert Griffin III obviously will also get the night off for the Redskins.
Worst-case scenario for Gruden and the Redskins would have been Cousins putting on a pocket passing exhibition against the Buccaneers’ second string defense, handing more ammunition to the very vocal and very annoying pro-Cousins lobby.
The worst that can happen now is Colt McCoy plays a great game against backups and some very insane people say McCoy should be starting over both RG3 and Cousins.
Of course, this ploy alone won’t be enough to totally defuse the Cousins-over-RG3 talk. The first time RG3 struggles in the regular season, the din will rise once again.
There is an old saying about the backup QB being the most popular guy on the team. That goes quadruple when your starter is shaky in the pocket and prone to getting hurt when he breaks the pocket.
If the Redskins really want to put this controversy to bed, they’ll trade Kirk Cousins at the first available opportunity. But then that would leave them with only Colt McCoy backing up a brittle RG3, and they don’t want that either.
It’s hard work sorting out these QB things sometimes. Maybe Washington should just trade all of them and start over with Jameis Winston next year.