

Redskins quarterback Colt McCoy, right, was the starter in Dallas Oct. 27 while Robert Griffin III was hurt. Washington will be returning to the McCoy starting and Griffin watching arrangement. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post)

Washington Redskins coach Jay Gruden has decided to bench quarterback Robert Griffin III, and will now turn to Colt McCoy as the Redskins prepare for Sunday’s game at Indianapolis, a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed.

Gruden met with the quarterbacks individually, and then planned to inform the team of his decision at a meeting Wednesday morning.

Gruden’s decision comes not even 48 hours after the coach stated that it was his “intent” to start Griffin despite three straight losses, including back-to-back dismal performances by the former star.

Gruden gave himself some wiggle room, saying “It’s Monday afternoon at 3 o’clock, and right now, we have every intent for Robert, but we’ll look at the tape and make our evaluations here shortly.”

Asked if he believed Griffin still gave the team the best chance to win, and what led him to believe so, Gruden avoided answering the question.

“We just got back here at 4 a.m.,” he said. “We got back at like 4 a.m., we’re still in the process of evaluating this tape, like I said, in the last couple of games. We’re evaluating all of our guys right now, and our starting lineup is not etched in stone right now for Sunday’s game at Indianapolis. We’re going to evaluate everybody today and tomorrow, and have a plan moving forward, starting Wednesday.”

Griffin has played only four full games under Gruden, but he hasn’t come remotely close to displaying the promise of his rookie season, when he won rookie of the year honors and set franchise and league records for passer rating and rushing yards.

Griffin struggled in the preseason and again in the season opener against Houston, as Washington mustered only one touchdown in a 17-6 loss. Griffin got hurt six plays into Washington’s Week 2 matchup with Jacksonville, and he missed the next six games while healing from a dislocated left ankle.

He showed signs of rust in his return against Minnesota, which Washington lost 29-26. But instead of making improvements following the Week 10 bye, Griffin regressed greatly. Against Tampa Bay, he threw for one touchdown and two interceptions while throwing for 207 yards and posting a quarterback rating of 73.3 in a 27-7 loss to the then-1-8 Bucs. Then on Sunday, Griffin completed only 57.9 percent of his passes for just 106 yards. Washington again managed only one touchdown (a run by Alfred Morris).

Gruden had been frank in his assessment of Griffin’s play the past two weeks, saying he “not even close to being good enough to what we expect from the quarterback position.”

Meanwhile, Griffin’s teammates also have begun to lose confidence in him as well. Wide receivers Pierre Garcon and DeSean Jackson both had been publicly critical of the passer and the ineffectiveness of the offense. Gruden said that he understood the frustrations of the two wideouts.

The coach had serious reservations about Griffin’s ability to develop into a pocket passer after he struggled in training camp and the preseason, people with knowledge of the situation said. But he held out hope that with more game action, improvements would come.

However, fed up with the mounting losses, lack of progress and in fear of losing the locker room, Gruden decided this week to pull the plug on Griffin.

Griffin’s benching marks one of the fastest falls from grace that the franchise has seen. The team gave up three No. 1 picks and a second-rounder for the rights to draft him second overall in 2012.

Griffin dazzled with his legs and his arm, running a read-option-heavy offensive attack that then-offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan tailored to the strengths Griffin had exhibited while winning the Heisman Trophy at Baylor in 2011.

But after tearing ligaments in his knee at the end of the 2012 season, Griffin stated that he wanted to move away from the read-option plays and develop into a traditional pocket passer who used his legs to extend plays rather than rely as heavily on running and risk another career-threatening injury.

Shanahan and head coach Mike Shanahan obliged and changed the offense, but Griffin struggled to make the transition. His relationship with his coaches had started to deteriorate following his injury because he didn’t believe that they had his long-term health in their best interests. He took offense to how Mike Shanahan said he needed to learn to slide to keep himself healthy instead of accepting partial blame for the injury.

Griffin and the Shanahans’ relationship only further deteriorated over the course of the 2013 season. First, the two had a power struggle over the handling of Griffin’s rehabilitation and return to the playing field. Shanahan had reservations about granting Griffin’s wish to reclaim his job by Week 1, but eventually gave in. However, with on-field struggles continuing, and Mike Shanahan’s camp leaking anonymously sourced news reports about conflict between the two, and a lack of support from owner Daniel Snyder, the problems reached a boiling point.

Shanahan benched Griffin for the final three games of the 2013 season, saying he needed to ensure the quarterback would enter the offseason fully healthy so he could work on improving his game. Shanahan got fired, and general manager Bruce Allen hired Gruden to fix Griffin and return him to his former glory, and surpass that.

Gruden gave Griffin more responsibility, including having him more extensively read defenses and make calls at the line. And the coach installed an offense that relies heavily on timing and precision. But with Griffin struggling with anticipation and an ability to read defenses, the offense went nowhere as Griffin frequently held on to the ball too long, waiting for receivers to come out of their breaks rather than leading them with his throws.

Griffin this season managed only two touchdown passes, while throwing three interceptions and losing two fumbles in five games. He also got sacked 20 times while posting an 0-4 record in the games he started and finished.

Uncertainty looms over the quarterback’s future. He has one more year remaining on his rookie contract, and is owed a base salary of $3.69 million for next season. The contract includes an option for a fifth year, and Washington would have to exercise that option by May. But such a move would guarantee Griffin a salary of upwards of $15 million in 2016.

The Redskins could decline to pick up the option and let Griffin play out his final season, but they could risk ongoing distractions behind the scenes.

If Washington were to cut Griffin, they would have to absorb a salary cap hit of $6.71 million for 2015.

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