Jay Gruden On Dwayne Haskins, Gardner Minshew and Futures For Young Passers
As the Washington Football Team continues to trip its way through one of the league’s most confusing quarterback situations of the season, the person who gets asked about it more often than anyone is sitting in Jacksonville.
Ok, that’s a slight exaggeration. Washington Head Coach Ron Rivera gets asked about his quarterback room more than anyone. But Jacksonville Jaguars Offensive Coordinator Jay Gruden isn’t far behind.
The former Washington head coach was in the war room and on the practice field when many of the current Washington passers joined the team. His knowledge of what they bring can’t help but be relied on during one of the NFL’s most dramatic situations.
On Monday, Washington released former first-round quarterback Dwayne Haskins. He was only in the second year of his rookie contract. The release came after Haskins’ second benching and second COVID-19 protocol violation. Rivera stripped Haskins of his captaincy after the COVID protocol violation but was sort of forced to start him on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers.
After going 14-28 for 154 yards, two interceptions and two sacks, he was benched for Taylor Heinicke. The ideal starter for Washington though is veteran Alex Smith. Since arriving in 2018, he’s 10-5 as a starter. But his year off with a life-threatening leg injury and various other injuries means WFT is 6-26 in games Smith isn’t starting under center. The team is hopeful he’ll be available for Sunday in a must-win game for Washington to win the NCF East.
Gruden spoke earlier this season on the inspiration that can be taken from Alex Smith’s return to football and how it can be used as a lesson for other young quarterbacks facing adversity.
So on Wednesday, speaking with local Jacksonville reporters before the Jaguars regular season finale, Gruden — who was the head coach in Washington when the team took Haskins 15th overall in the 2019 NFL Draft —provided some more insight into his former quarterback room and the tumultuous situation for Haskins.
“He’s a good quarterback. He’s a first-round draft pick and unfortunately it hasn’t worked out the way anybody really thought, including myself. I never thought he’d be released this early in his career.”
Gruden was the head coach for Haskins for half of his rookie season. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
During his 16 games in the league, Haskins accumulated 2,804 yards passing and 147 rushing with a 60.1% completion percentage and 13 total touchdowns. It was his inconsistency and apparent disregard for protocols as a leader that ultimately made the decision for Rivera. And in Jacksonville, Gruden offers a piece of advice for his former passer.
“He has one of two ways to go. He can either learn from this and rebound and take advantage of the next opportunity and work his tail off or not. But I fully anticipate that they’ll have some really good people around him, talking to him. The next opportunity he gets, I’m sure he’ll be ready to go.”
Where that opportunity may be is yet to be seen. Haskins went unclaimed on waivers and now becomes a free agent. The Jaguars and Gruden have had quarterback trouble themselves this season, starting three different guys (Gardner Minshew, Jake Luton and Mike Glennon) for both injuries and poor play. But with the No. 1 overall pick already locked in for the 2021 NFL Draft, the Jaguars are all but destined to pick Clemson Tigers quarterback Trevor Lawrence as a potential franchise changing passer.
As such, it’s unlikely Haskins will be coming to the First Coast anytime soon. But Gruden wouldn’t mind coaching the young gun again.
“Yeah. I mean big quarterbacks that can rip it are hard to find. I think there’s a lot of things he needs to work on obviously as all young quarterbacks do…if he continues to work in the offseason and work on his mental and physical approach to the game diligently like pro quarterbacks are supposed to do, then sure, he can do it.”
While not quite the same situation, Gruden compares the process Haskins needs to go through as similar to the one in Duval where Gruden is working on molding rookie Jake Luton and second-year incumbent Gardner Minshew, both of who have been benched at various times this season for Glennon.
For Minshew in particular, who started 12 games as a rookie and eight games this season, Gruden wants to see a commitment to growth. For that matter, as Gruden points out, Minshew’s career thus far has been peppered with strange timelines. So this offseason could be his first real opportunity to put in the work to become a long time passer in the league.
“The demands of being a professional quarterback in the NFL are very high. [Last year Gardner] was young. He didn’t get a lot of reps last year in training camp. He ended up playing a lot and doing some good things. This offseason, we didn’t have really an offseason program so to speak and threw the new playbook at him in training camp and had some issues.
Gruden wants to see a 365 day work mentality from Gardner Minshew. Mandatory Credit: Douglas DeFelice-USA TODAY Sports
“We weren’t able to throw the ball as consistently as he wanted to. We had to rest him a little bit and [he] didn’t have success. The offense in general hasn’t had the success, so we tried different people and then he hurt his thumb.
“As young quarterbacks go in this league, you have to continue to work on your craft, physicality, your physical craft and your mental craft. He has to continue to work and buy into the fact that this a grind. The quarterback position is like no other in pro sports.
"This a non-stop, 365 days a year job that you have work on your craft, your feet, your arm, your throwing angles, you’re studying, studying defenses, blitzes, fronts coverages. It should never stop if you want to be great and he has a chance to do that. He’s young. He’ll learn from his experiences that he had moving forward and hopefully he’ll take advantage of it and the next time he gets one, he’ll roll.”
As things currently stand, neither Haskins or Minshew have a guaranteed future in this league. For that matter, with a new General Manager still to be hired in Jacksonville, neither does Gruden. He told reporters on Wednesday that he liked the area and even bought a home.
While the future is uncertain, the advice Jay Gruden is giving to Dwayne Haskins and Gardner Minshew is the same advice he’s giving to himself and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“The staff have worked extremely hard. Coach Marrone has done a great job with what he’s had to work with and everything. But the future is up in the air without a doubt. First, [we’re] going to work hard the last game and whatever happens, happens, but I do love the area that’s for sure and I would love to coach these young guys again.”
