But five games into the season, Smith has not made Washington’s offense move the way Gruden and the rest of the team’s coaches hoped. On Monday, Gruden gave his strongest criticism yet of the way Smith has played. One day after the team’s 23-17 win over the Panthers, Gruden cited an issue he would like to see fixed: Smith isn’t getting the ball out quickly enough.

“I think the critical side of me, the coach’s side of me, there are some things that we have to clean up,” Gruden said at his regular Monday news conference.

AD

AD

“Sometimes he hangs on too long and gives guys too much of a chance when he needs to get off of them and get to the next guy,” Gruden added. “For the most part, I thought he improved from last week to this week, and there’s still some improvement due for everybody across the board. I like where he’s at. I like the way he’s buying in and learning.”

The Redskins are at a critical point in their season. After holding on for a victory over Carolina, they stand 3-2, clinging to first place in the NFC East by half a game. Next Sunday they play a Dallas team that just beat Jacksonville, 40-7, and after that comes games against the New York Giants, Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Those three teams have a combined record of 5-12. The next four weeks offer an excellent chance to pack on enough victories to make a legitimate playoff run in November and December.

But the offense has to move better for that to happen. After completing 70 percent of his passes in the team’s first two games, his accuracy has steadily declined until he completed only 58 percent of his throws in Sunday’s 23-17 victory over Carolina. His 60.4 completion percentage and 91.9 quarterback rating are his lowest in five seasons. He had just 163 yards passing against the Panthers.

AD

AD

Coaches have talked about working with Smith to get him thinking less about the mechanics of his throws and move naturally as he adjusts to a new system. But Monday was the first time someone in the organization acknowledged that Smith is holding onto the ball too long.

A perfect example, Gruden said, came just before halftime, when the Redskins took over on the Panthers' 33-yard line with 56 seconds left. Smith was called for intentional grounding while trying to avoid a sack on first down, scrambled for four yards on second, then threw too short to tight end Jordan Reed on third down. Pushed back to the Panthers' 39, Washington had to punt, ruining an opportunity for extra points.

A day later, Gruden was still frustrated by the first down grounding penalty.

AD

“We missed a golden opportunity to put at least three points on the board,” he said. “Our defense put us in a prime situation there, we have our two timeouts, so we had time to possibly get six or seven. We took a pretty bad sack. We had someone there who the ball should have been thrown to, but [Smith] was trying to look off the safety a little bit too long, sometimes he gets stuck on a guy a little bit too long.

AD

“But overall I thought he made some great plays and helped us win the football game — which is the most important thing.”

A common criticism of Smith has been that he is too much of a game manager, worrying more about not having his passes intercepted than pushing for touchdowns. The Redskins coaches like that he is careful and deliberate in his decision-making. So far, he’s only been intercepted twice. But he has struggled at times as he adjusts to a new team, a new offense and the late-August addition of running back Adrian Peterson, whose style isn’t naturally suited for the team’s base offense.

AD

Smith did not have as much time as a new quarterback might with his playmakers this year, as injuries sidelined many of them in training camp, including Reed, running back Chris Thompson and receivers Josh Doctson, Jamison Crowder, Paul Richardson and Maurice Harris. On Sunday, he was without Thompson and Crowder, who missed the game with injuries. The upheaval has kept Smith from building a great bond with his pass-catchers and has undoubtedly led to the offense’s early sluggishness.

“I feel that we’re untapped offensively,” Smith said after Sunday’s game.