WASHINGTON — Washington Redskins head coach Jay Gruden announced Monday that Kirk Cousins will be the team’s starting quarterback for the regular season.
“We have announced that Kirk Cousins will be the starter for 2015, moving forward,” Gruden announced. “We feel like, at this time, Kirk Cousins gives us the best chance to win moving forward.”
Cousins started the team’s third preseason game on Saturday and completed 20-of-27 passes for 190 yards, tossing both a touchdown and an interception. The fourth-year Michigan State product has been moved into the starting role again due to injuries to the team’s originally planned starter, Robert Griffin III — the 2012 Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Although Gruden said that it’s Cousins’ job for the season, not just the Sept. 13 opener against Miami, the quarterback is not overconfident.
“It’s a step in the process,” Cousins said. “It doesn’t feel like a finish line by any means. Time will tell. It’s going to be an interesting ride.”
Griffin, who has struggled since tearing his right ACL and MCL in a January 2013 playoff loss to Seattle, was scheduled to start last Saturday’s preseason game at Baltimore before being scratched the previous day in the wake of a concussion suffered on Aug. 20 against Detroit.
Griffin participated in non-contact drills Monday but remains in the NFL’s concussion protocol and won’t play in Thursday’s preseason finale against Jacksonville. Cousins is expected to sit out that night with Colt McCoy playing the entire game.
“The door is not shut on Robert Griffin,” Gruden said. “He’s a Washington Redskins player, and he’s going to have to come in and compete like everybody else.”
Cousins has appeared in 14 games over the past three seasons, making nine starts, in which the Redskins are 2-7. He has completed 59 percent of his passes, throwing 18 touchdowns and 19 interceptions.
The team opens the 2015 campaign against the Miami Dolphins Sept. 13 at FedEx Field.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
