Jay Gruden Says He Has 'Total Faith' in Kirk Cousins as Redskins QB

There are questions and doubts hovering over Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins after the team’s 0-2 start to the 2016 NFL season, but head coach Jay Gruden publicly backed his quarterback on Monday.

According to John Keim of ESPN.com, Gruden said, "We have total faith that Kirk will get it done, and he will get it done. He has proven that he can be a successful quarterback in this league."

Cousins proved it last year with 4,166 passing yards, 29 touchdown throws and 11 interceptions on the way to an NFC East title, but he has a mere one touchdown toss to three picks through his first two games this season:

Week	Opponent	Result	Completions	Passing Yards	Touchdowns	Interceptions
1	Pittsburgh Steelers	38-16, Pittsburgh	30-of-43	329	0	2
2	Dallas Cowboys	27-23, Dallas	28-of-46	364	1	1

The lack of production is far from Cousins' only problem. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported some of the offensive players for Washington have complained about Cousins in the early going this year.

That is not exactly the way for Cousins to earn a long-term deal as he plays this season under the $19.95 million franchise tag, per Keim, but there are still 14 games remaining. For his part, Cousins appeared on 106.7 The Fan in Washington D.C. and said “You don't put your tail between your legs. You don't get scared. You don't go cry in a corner,” when facing adversity, via Keim.

The signal-caller referred to himself as a leader in that interview and at least vocally expressed his need to improve moving forward for Washington.

Cousins has been far from spectacular in a small sample size in 2016, but Gruden also recognized the demands of the position have put him in the spotlight in spite of Washington's other struggles during its first two losses, per Keim:

"

At quarterback, sometimes if you don't get victories, you feel like -- everybody feels like -- it's the quarterback's fault. Everybody's writing headlines on the quarterback. But there are a lot of issues that we have to correct. He's part of it, I'm part of it, the coordinators are part of it, the rest of the players are part of it. It all fits in the equation.

"

The defense certainly shares some of the blame considering it ranked an abysmal 28th in the league in points allowed per game at 32.5, as of Monday. It was particularly poor against the Pittsburgh Steelers when wide receiver Antonio Brown racked up 126 receiving yards and two touchdowns and 33-year-old running back DeAngelo Williams tallied 143 rushing yards and two scores.

Still, it is Cousins who has caught much of the negative attention. Keim said wide receivers DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon have each shown frustration toward the quarterback this year, most notably during Sunday’s loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

Cousins threw a critical interception inside the red zone with his team nursing a 23-20 advantage, and Dallas eventually won the game on an Alfred Morris touchdown after the turnover.

Those are the type of mistakes Cousins will have to eliminate if he wants to get Washington back into the playoff picture and minimize some of the negative attention that has come his way through two games this season.