ASHBURN, Va. — It was a bold statement, the type that hangs over a franchise until it’s proven or disproven. And it came from a coach with quite a track record.
It was July 29, following the first practice of training camp. Washington Redskins coach Mike Shanahan bristled over a question about quarterback John Beck’s lack of experience, then expounded by giving the strongest vote of confidence imaginable to both Beck and Rex Grossman.
“You talk about a guy not being experienced — I believe in the guys,” Shanahan said. “I believe in ’em. And I’ve been doing this for a long time. And I put my reputation on these guys that they can play.”
If that’s truly the case, then Shanahan’s reputation is in a very precarious spot.
Eight games into the season, neither Grossman nor Beck has justified the faith placed in them by the coach who won two Super Bowl titles with John Elway in the 1990s. Add in the wasted 2010 season with Donovan McNabb, and Shanahan is on pace to go 0-for-3 with his taste in quarterbacks since becoming Washington’s coach.
Shanahan obviously didn’t have to make the “reputation” quote. He could have just said he had two players he liked and that he hoped one of them would step up to the challenge and become the franchise’s quarterback for years to come.
But now it’s out there, and he’s not taking it back. He gets asked about it regularly, and he doesn’t back down. He does, however, spin his answer a bit differently.
“I believe in both these quarterbacks,” he said Wednesday. “And I’ve got to give them the right supporting cast.”
The Redskins have the distinction of having the two lowest-rated QBs in the NFC, with Beck at 72.1 and Grossman at 66.5. But Shanahan is not giving up on Beck and Grossman just yet.
“If you believe in people, you put your reputation on people,” Shanahan said. “And I understand there’s going to be some growing pains.”
