Washington Redskins: What Do We Make of the Team's Quarterback Situation?

Ecstatic, excited, thrilled, energized, delighted and overjoyed – all words that were likely used by conscious fans when the Washington Redskins signed veteran quarterback Donovan McNabb.

After eight games, four wins and eight interceptions, head coach Mike Shanahan has sucked Redskins Nation dry of any such warm and fuzzy feelings with McNabb or the quarterback’s unsettled future with the team. At this point, we as fans are probably using words like bothered, disturbed, confused, nervous, anxious, and panicky.

When Donovan McNabb first arrived in Ashburn, he made it clear that he wanted to retire a Redskin. While this was great news for fans and his new teammates, it apparently wasn’t that great for the Redskins’ front office. Since being acquired by Bruce Allen and Mike Shanahan, neither side has been able to structure any such contract extension for McNabb. This is where the problem begins.

The problem then became a little worse when McNabb was benched with two minutes to go in last week’s loss to the Detroit Lions. For some unknown and unforeseen reason, Shanahan believed that backup quarterback Rex Grossman gave the Redskins the best opportunity to win a ball game that they trailed in by five points and could have potentially won in order to enter their bye week 5-3.

And finally, the problem hit an all time low when Shanahan attempted to explain and rationalize his sudden roster move.

At first, Shanahan claimed that Grossman was more experienced in the offense and the scheme’s two-minute drill. Unfortunately for Shanahan, he must not have realized that he was comparing Sexy Rexy and All-Pro Donovan McNabb. No matter the situation, whether it’s starting a game, finishing a game, or selling pretzels in the stands, McNabb gives you the best chance for success.

Then Shanahan claimed that McNabb lacked the “cardiovascular endurance” to, not only finish the game, but finish the final two minutes. Really? So we’re going to sit here and listen to you say that Grossman is in better shape than McNabb? That McNabb didn’t have the energy to run to the line of scrimmage in the rare case of a completed pass down the middle of the field? C’mon Shanny!

And the most recent gibberish from Shanahan claimed that McNabb was hurt and aching, suffering mostly from severely sore hamstrings. Finally, a legitimate excuse. At least with this one, the head coach is blaming injury – an injury that Redskins Nation would never really discover if it was real or bogus. In fact, if this was Shanahan’s first line of fire, I think we’d be forced to just nod our heads and roll with it.

Luckily for us fans, offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan decided to stick up for Pops and clear up his father’s misunderstood comments regarding McNabb.

“When you say it was cardiovascular endurance, it was – but because he has two pulled hamstrings and hasn’t practiced in full speed in three weeks,” Kyle Shanahan said. “It wasn’t because he has just been sitting around playing video games. That’s the way I thought it came off, and that was unfair to [McNabb].”

Kyle Shanahan also mentioned that he and his father had met with McNabb just a few days before the game and informed the quarterback that he’d be benched if he began to struggle.

“Because of his hamstring issues, we were deciding that he was hurting, we knew he wouldn’t take himself out, we didn’t think he should play, we felt we should rest him up and get him better for the rest of the year,” Kyle Shanahan said. “Donovan, being the competitor that he is, said, ‘I will rise to the occasion and I will play.’ He talked us into it.”

McNabb denied reports that he had been informed of his possible benching in favor of Grossman.

As the team rests up during the bye week and we allow our hearts to take a break after putting it through eight weeks of dramatic Redskins football, the team’s quarterback situation continues to glare.

When asked what the chances were of him being the Redskins’ quarterback next season, McNabb responded with, “100 percent.”

For right now, that’s all we have to go off of. The benching is questionable. The work outs for Russell and Losman are comical (and frightening). But there’s no need to worry ourselves sick over what may happen during the offseason next summer. At this point and time, McNabb is the quarterback of the Washington Redskins and I highly doubt that his position is in any sort of danger.

Let’s hope for a healthy McNabb coming out of the bye week (in which he plans to spend a majority of his time at his home in Phoenix) and let’s begin to pray to the Football Gods, as the Redskins are preparing to take on the tougher half of this year’s schedule.