Rex Grossman may play his final game with the Washington Redskins on Sunday at Philadelphia. The quarterback is not signed for next season and the team looks likely to draft his replacement come April. Yet, Grossman was undeterred on Wednesday over the future. He expects to return to Washington and start next season.
“My confidence level is at an all-time high,” he said. “I just need to eliminate the couple bad plays here and there that deter great performance. … We’ve done a lot of great things this year. Just the consistency level, the percentage of bad plays just needs to go down.
“I’ve put a lot of good tape out there. I had some turnovers, whether some I could control, some I couldn’t. There is a lot of good tape out there also, so we’ll see.”
Wow, where to start. Grossman was clearly better than John Beck, who led the Redskins to three losses and 31 points in his three starts. But that’s practically the only person Grossman outplayed.
Grossman’s best category was 17th among NFL quarterbacks in touchdowns. He was 18th in average gain, 22nd in completion percentage and 30th in interceptions.
Overall, Grossman ranked 28th of 33 quarterbacks in passer rating.
The Redskins will surely draft a quarterback, if not in the first round then the second. Grossman probably will re-sign with Washington because there’s not a big free agent market for 28th ranked passers.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see Grossman open next season as the starter. He knows the offense. The Redskins have scored at least 23 points in five of the last six games, although they only won two of those games.
“I think you’ve seen that for the most part as far as production over the last six weeks or so, we’ve been putting up a decent amount of points and moving the ball at a consistent pace,” he said. “The negative plays eliminate that.”
Turnovers have been the dagger for Grossman. Nineteen interceptions and five lost fumbles, at least one a game, is just unacceptable. Grossman smiles when talking of good things, but they’re all undone by turnovers. That has been the problem his entire nine-year career. It’s not changing in the 10th.
The Redskins may soon spend their fourth first-round pick since winning their last Super Bowl in 1991 on a passer. Grossman will eventually be recalled as just another of 18 quarterbacks passing through during two decades of mediocrity. Still, Grossman remains undeterred.
“When I look at my situation I try to make the best of every possible scenario,” he said. “I’m not fully naive to the situation. … Some things are out of my control. But what I can control, I want to make a case for myself.”
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more on Twitter @Snide_Remarks or email [email protected].
