Report: Colin Kaepernick Not Contacted by Redskins Despite Jay Gruden Comments

If Washington had internal discussions about potentially signing free agent Colin Kaepernick in the wake of Alex Smith's season-ending broken leg, those discussions never reached the point of contacting Kaepernick.

According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, "Jay Gruden said the injury-ravaged Washington Redskins 'talked about and discussed' signing Colin Kaepernick this past week, but no one from the team reached out to the free agent quarterback, a source tells ESPN."

Gruden did say publicly Washington didn't go with Kaepernick because he wanted someone who better fit into his system at this point in the season.

"There's not a lot of time to get a brand-new quarterback and system installed in a couple of days," he said. "He's been talked about, but we'll probably go in a different direction."

He also said the decision was based on football considerations alone, and Kaepernick's politics and kneeling during the play of the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial inequality during his NFL career were not factors.

"Just football, strictly football," Gruden said. "When you're talking about a backup quarterback this late in the game you want someone with a similar skill set to the quarterback you have. Not that Colin can't do some of the things we've talked about, but we want someone with a little more familiarity."

Instead, with both Smith and his backup, Colt McCoy, out of action, Washington chose to roll with Mark Sanchez, who played poorly against Philadelphia, completing 13 of his 21 passes for just 100 yards and an interception in a 28-13 loss that put Washington's playoff hopes on life support.

Sanchez has a career 56.7 completion percentage and has thrown more interceptions (87) than touchdowns (86). 

The team also signed veteran journeyman Josh Johnson as his backup. Johnson last appeared in an NFL game in 2013. 

Suffice to say, more than a few folks didn't buy Gruden's reasoning for Washington passing on Kaepernick or understand why the team would bring aboard Reuben Foster—who was arrested and charged with domestic violence in November—but not Kaepernick: 

At the very least, it's hard to find any logical argument for either Sanchez or Johnson representing a football upgrade over Kaepernick.