Jay Gruden Throws Big Blows With RGIII Over QB’s Career In Heated Exchange

The shared tenure in Washington of Head Coach Jay Gruden and quarterback Robert Griffin III did not go well, to say the least. It lasted just seven games, and didn’t reflect well on either of them.

For some reason, the two have decided to rehash the situation on Twitter, and things are getting ugly.

It’s been ten years since RGIII was starting games for the Washington franchise after his fantastic rookie season made it seems like he was going to revolutionize the quarterback position in the NFL. But, injuries sapped him of much of the athleticism that made him so dynamic. A torn ACL in the Wild Card Round in his rookie year was the turning point in RGIII’s career.

He was never the same player after that, but when Washington hired Jay Gruden after RGIII’s second year in the league heading into the 2014 NFL Season, the hope was that the offensive coordinator credited for developing Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton would get RGIII on the right track after a poor sophomore year in the nation’s capital.

But, that’s not what happened in the slightest. An early injury kept Griffin out, and when he came back, he was not good at all. On the year, he was 2-5 in starts with 4 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. A year later, he lost his job in the preseason following a concussion to Kirk Cousins, and he never took another snap in for Washington.

Meanwhile, Cousins went on to have a great NFL career, which is still going, and led Washington to the playoffs in 2015. Gruden lasted parts of six seasons in Washington, going 35-49-1.

Now, the two are arguing about their tenure together. It all started following the Eagles’ loss to the Buccaneers in the NFC Wild Card Round, when Philadelphia quarterback Jalen Hurts was consistently pressured throughout the game. Gruden complained about the gameplan for Philadelphia, saying that he would apologize if he ever put a quarterback through what Hurts was going through, that he was sorry.

Griffin took offense to that, posting this.

The beef is still going, as RGIII posted this video to his Twitter account, setting things off Thursday night.

So if Jay Gruden really wants to talk, I’m not going to cuss the man out. I’m not going to call him outside of his name. But what I am going to do is tell you guys the truth.

And the truth of the matter is there was a moment in DC that is vividly remembered. Jay Gruden went to a press conference, and he undressed me at that press conference in a way that a coach should never undress his starting quarterback. It was after a game and I said in the press conference that the best players in the NFL have the guys around them play at an extremely high level, no one is out there doing it on their own.

Now, the media pundits and everyone took that and said, ‘RGIII threw his teammates under the bus.’ And I had to eat that for a long time. Because, Jay didn’t back me in the media the next day, he doubled down on it, and actually picked me apart in the media.

But what people don’t know is that the only reason I went to that press conference and said what I said to challenge my teammates through that press conference was because Jay Gruden asked me to do that.

What hurt me about that was the fact that after I did that in the press conference, not only did Jay Gruden not have my back, but he actually burned me with it. He came out the next day and burned me in the media. He came up the next day in a meeting in our team meeting room and burned me in front of my own teammates. I took accountability for what I said, which was taken out of context, and apologized to my teammates in the front of that team meeting.

Now, Jay, knowing that he had asked me to do that, and still went to the media and tore me down to the media, even in that room. It’s the fact that he has zero self awareness and zero integrity. Because even though he asked me to do something, he didn’t have the balls to have my back

That’s some pretty heavy stuff. What did Jay Gruden have to say to respond to that? He went for the jugular in this now-deleted tweet.

And, the two are going back and forth Thursday evening.

I’m not playing any games, I’m retired.
You have a free invite to come on the show and discuss. Face to face.
I know where all your bodies are buried Jay. Don’t play with me.

— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) January 19, 2024

Then, Jay Gruden hilariously brought up the time RGIII raced a pigeon.

At this point, I’m wondering if these two aren’t in it for clicks. What serious adult would bring the pigeon race into the conversation.

Both of these guys were responsible for things going wrong in Washington, and neither one of them were good at their jobs of NFL Head Coach and starting quarterback.

I’m sure we will hear more about this on Friday, as RGIII works for ESPN now, and is always firing off crazy takes, like when he said the Cowboys should hire Deion Sanders as head coach.