Jay Gruden believes Case Keenum gives the Redskins the best chance to win.
The Redskins have started the season 0-3 and Keenum committed five turnovers in the team's 31-15 loss to the Bears on Monday. Gruden, however, told reporters he's not planning to replace the quarterback with rookie Dwayne Haskins.
“We’ve played three games," Gruden said on a conference call Tuesday (via the Washington Post). "There’s 13 games left in the season. The season’s not lost. It’s not over. I know everybody wants to say, ‘It’s over,’ and, ‘The season’s over, go ahead and play Haskins.’ But we feel confident we can turn this thing around.”
Washington selected Haskins out of Ohio State with the No. 15 pick in the 2019 draft. He completed 55.2 percent of his passes and threw two touchdowns, along with two interceptions, in the preseason.
Dwayne Haskins' 1st preseason TD is right on the 💰
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) August 16, 2019
(via @thecheckdown)pic.twitter.com/sE6g8tsdab
“If we feel like Dwayne gives us the best chance to win in a coming game, we’ll definitely put Dwayne out there,” Gruden said. “But right now we feel like it’s Case Keenum, and we’re going to move forward with him this week.
"(Haskins is) learning in the classroom. This is new for him, as it is for every rookie quarterback in the NFL that’s playing right now. Some of them are doing fine. Some of them are struggling a little bit. Right now, I think Dwayne’s on pace. He just needs to continue to sit back and learn and continue to develop.”
Keenum told reporters the loss to the Bears was "all on" him.
.@Grindin_59 punches it out, @BoJack39 scoops it. BIG TIME PLAY!#CHIvsWAS | #Bears100 pic.twitter.com/YGsOnBnCL1
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) September 24, 2019
"Turn the ball over that many times as a quarterback, you know, I let my team down," Keenum said. "I take complete responsibility. ... I have to take care of the ball better. That's my number one job."
There could be another quarterback soon pushing Keenum as Colt McCoy, who has been recovering from the broken leg he suffered in December 2018, could return to practice this week, Gruden said.
The Redskins are set to face the Giants on Sunday.