AP

Dan Snyder would like to know what’s gone wrong with his franchise quarterback.

Snyder has been quiet publicly in the wake of Washington’s benching of Robert Griffin III, perhaps because Snyder doesn’t know quite what to say. According to Chris Mortensen of ESPN, team sources have described Snyder as “befuddled” and “confused” as to why Griffin has fallen so far.

Griffin certainly has fallen far: He led Washington to the playoffs two years ago and had one of the best rookie seasons of any quarterback in NFL history. Now he’s not even as good as Colt McCoy. According to Mortensen, Snyder is baffled by how Griffin could have declined so much.

ESPN reports that Snyder was contacted for an on-the-record comment but said he does not have any desire to discuss Griffin’s status. It’s easy to understand why: If the best Snyder can come up with is to say he’s befuddled, his public comments won’t help anything.

But eventually, Snyder’s team has to make a hard decision about whether Griffin has a future in Washington. Ultimately, Snyder is the one who will need to sign off on that decision. Which means he’s going to have to figure out what’s wrong with Griffin, and whether it can be fixed.