On the first matter, there are separate debates going on here: whether Matt Jones can be the answer; whether it’s possible to find someone other than Matt Jones to be the answer; and whether any of this matters. For that last perspective, turn now to John Riggins, the best running back in team history, who thinks that no, this doesn’t particularly matter. And so no, it’s not time to panic.

“I really don’t think so,” he said during the team’s radio pregame show last Friday. “Everybody seems to be taking it so much more seriously than myself. They made the playoffs last year, and they couldn’t run the football. The first three games they played, they were leading the league in rushing, so everybody’s saying oh they’re gonna run the ball this is like old times!”

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But Riggins said those early games were deceiving, and that last year’s division champions were never able to just mash teams in the running game, and yet the team still succeeded.

“I don’t think really in the big scheme of things that [Coach] Jay Gruden’s overly concerned about the running game,” Riggins said. “I think that’s a company line — we’ve got to run the ball better. They know down deep that they make their bones by throwing the football, and that’s the way you win in the NFL. So I just think everybody’s got to take a deep breath and relax. … That whole thing is, like I said, a little bit overblown.”

Riggins said all that before Jones injured his shoulder, an injury that will keep him out of the remainder of the preseason and possibly beyond. And Riggins spoke highly of Jones, so perhaps his absence changes the equation, and it’s now time to panic.

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Still, it’s worth noting that the Redskins indeed won the division last season despite a league-leading eight games in which they failed to average three yards a carry. Who was second in the NFL in that category? The Broncos, who failed to average three yards a carry six times. And who also won the Super Bowl. The Patriots, who were the AFC’s second seed, failed to average three yards a carry four times.

So can you succeed without a running game? Apparently.

Riggins said “the real key” for these Redskins will be pass protection, and that the likely pass-heavy offense “is going to be fun, and it’s going to be exciting for the fans.” This isn’t a novel thought, but Riggins said the modern NFL is about throwing the ball, implying that those Redskins fans who still call into radio shows and scream about running the ball might want to chill out.

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