Say what you want about Mike Shanahan’s ego, but the man knows how to install a good running game.

Just two years into his tenure as head coach of the Redskins, Shanahan has the team’s ground attack heading in the right direction. Two weeks after racking up 140 yards versus the Steelers and one week after torching the Colts’ defense for 215 yards, the Redskins were at it again on Thursday night, compiling 103 rushing yards against a stingy Baltimore front seven.

Granted, 103 yards isn’t overly impressive but don’t forget that the Skins were playing against a very good Baltimore defense and Week 3 of the preseason is when teams play their starters well into the second half. It appears as though Washington’s offensive line has taken to Shanahan’s zone-blocking scheme and is starting to gel. Cohesion is crucial to Shanahan’s system and the Redskins’ front five has apparently found it, allowing Tim Hightower to gain 56 yards on nine careers (6.2 YPC) with one touchdown last night.

Shanahan has taken a lot of heat over the past two years for the way he’s run things in D.C., specifically in his handling of free agent bust Albert Haynesworth and quarterback Donovan McNabb. And seeing as how this Rex Grossman/John Beck situation seems destined to blow up in his face, there may be more criticism of Shanahan to come.

That said, he didn’t just fall into his 152-108 career coaching record and let’s not forget that the man has won two Super Bowls. He’s quirky yes, but it’s not that big of a stretch to think that he’s starting to turn things around in Washington. We’ll know more once the regular season starts, but I don’t think the Redskins’ success on the ground this preseason is a fluke. Take notice, NFC East.

Rotoworld has two interesting tidbits today on the quarterback situation in Washington:

John Beck is expected to enter training camp as the Redskins’ starting quarterback, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

“It will be his job to lose,” said Schefter, who is tight with coach Mike Shanahan after the two collaborated on a book in the late ’90s. Per Schefter, the Redskins bypassed QBs in the draft because they believe Beck is better than most of the group that was available in the middle of the first round. Beck doesn’t have a touchdown to show for his four NFL starts. He completed 27-of-48 passes (56.2 percent) for 300 yards (6.2 YPA) with a 2:2 TD-to-INT ratio against backups in last year’s preseason. Former Dolphins coach Cam Cameron has given up on Beck twice now, which leaves Shanahan as the 30-year-old’s lone backer.

And:

Free agent Rex Grossman appeared on ESPN 980 Radio Wednesday and said he is under the assumption that he will re-sign with the Redskins.

“I’m assuming that’s what’s going to happen,” he said. Grossman added that OC Kyle Shanahan and QBs coach Matt LaFleur personally asked him to throw with the Redskins’ receivers during the lockout. For now, we consider Grossman likely to be back in Washington to compete with John Beck. Most reporters covering the situation believe Beck will be ahead on the depth chart.

Am I the only one flabbergasted that people believe John Beck will be the Redskins’ starting quarterback next season? I get that this is all just speculation at this point, but I can’t be the only one who is raising an eyebrow to Mike Shanahan’s (potenital) madness here, right?

Beck isn’t without talent, but he didn’t exactly set the world on fire in Miami and I’m wondering what Shanahan sees in him to make him believe that he can start in Washington. I figured that Grossman, who Shanahan benched Donovan McNabb for last season, would be the favorite heading into training camp when the lockout lifts in the summer of 2032 – not Beck. (Assuming Grossman re-signs with the team, of course.)

But hey, what to do I know? Maybe Beck is the best fit for Shanahan’s offense and he just needed to find the right situation to succeed. Clearly the Redskins believe in him or else they would have drafted a signal caller in April, although they still could sign a veteran free agent like Vince Young when/if he becomes available later this summer.

Still, does anyone else envision Shanahan throwing a whole bunch of mediocre talent into a mixing bowl and just going week-by-week in terms of whom he starts at quarterback next year? Because I sure can…

Donovan McNabb has remained a class act throughout his NFL career despite facing many difficult challenges in both Philadelphia and Washington, including being benched for Rex Grossman.

But if anyone thought he would bit his tongue after tumbling face-first down the Redskins’ depth chart, then you sir or madam, were sadly mistaken.

From ESPN.com:

“Everything was handled awkwardly,” McNabb said Tuesday on his weekly radio show on ESPN980, “somewhat to a disrespect to me and to the team.”

Making his first public comments since his demotion last week, McNabb said he strongly disagreed with the decision, but he has a bigger problem with the way he says the organization leaked the news to the media before informing him.

“Because of the timing and because of all the leaks and everything that was put out there, and no putting out the fire, so to speak,” McNabb said, “I’m hearing everything through the media.”

“I was pulled back by it. All of a sudden you get this news a couple of days before the game, you do feel somewhat disrespected,” McNabb said. “You could have told me earlier or at least prepared me for it. … The term I did use was professional. You would like to hear it early, and if you hear it late, it kind of throws off the preparation for a lot of guys.”

McNabb went on to say that he loves the fans in Washington and that he thinks, “we can do some good things here.” But it’s hard to envision a scenario where he comes back to D.C. next year. If the Shanahans thought McNabb could run their offense at any point in the future, they would have left him in as the starter. After all, if you’re a head coach or an offensive coordinator and you’ve established that someone is “your guy,” then you stick with him through thick and thin. Look at the Jets and Mark Sanchez. They know he’s their future and no matter how much he struggles, they’re committed to his development.

But it’s clear that the Redskins are not committed to McNabb fully grasping the offense or else they wouldn’t have benched him for Turnover McGee. Therefore, he probably has two weeks left in Washington unless Dan Snyder fires Shanahan and sticks with McNabb. Anything could happen (especially when Dan Snyder is involved), although it’s highly doubtful.

Boy, do I have egg on my face. Silly me for thinking Rex Grossman would go out and completely make an ass of himself as Donovan McNabb sits on the sidelines for no reason. Turns out Grossman is super, super awesome.

All right, so maybe not. But he was good on Sunday in Dallas.

Grossman completed 25-of-43 passes for 322 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions in the Skins’ 33-30 loss to the Cowboys, but he was far from perfect. He put his team behind the 8-ball with a poorly thrown interception in the first quarter and he showed some rust after not playing in a couple years. He was also facing a Dallas secondary that was comprised of three scarecrows and a turned-over bucket, so it probably wasn’t difficult for him to move the ball with regularity.

That said, nobody can deny that he performed better than McNabb did at any point this season. Considering Grossman threw for four touchdowns with the same group that McNabb has been working with all season, it shows you how bad the former Eagle has struggled this season. The Skins’ 30 points was a season high for them and regardless of who they were playing, it’s impressive that Grossman was the one who led them to their highest scoring output of the year.

Grossman now gets two more games to prove that he can compete in Mike and Kyle Shanahan’s offense next season. While it’s imperative that the Redskins draft a quarterback for the future, if Grossman continues to play well at least they’ll have a veteran on the roster that’s comfortable running the offense. It wouldn’t surprise anyone if Grossman was a disaster over these next two weeks, but kudos to him for rising up on Sunday when everyone thought he would fail miserably. He gave the Skins a chance to win and that’s all Shanahan could ask for.

Donovan McNabb hasn’t played like the second coming of Y.A. Tittle this year, so let’s not act as if he’s the difference between the Redskins finishing this miserable season 3-0 or in a fiery blaze of their own hell. (They’ll probably choose the latter.)

But for crib’s sake, he’s still light-years better than Rex Grossman, whom Mike Shanahan will start against the Cowboys this Sunday.

Once again, the Redskins have befuddled the masses. Both McNabb and Shanahan say that McNabb is healthy, yet Grossman received an increased amount of reps this week practice and has been named Sunday’s starter. But why? Because he gives the Redskins their best chance of winning? That can’t be it. Grossman can hold his own when he plays on a team that employs the top ranked defense and a returner that sets his offense up at midfield every possession. But last time I checked, the Redskins had neither of those at their disposal.

So if McNabb isn’t hurt and Grossman doesn’t give the Skins their best chance of winning, then why start him? The only logical explanation is that they know McNabb won’t be around next year and therefore, are trying to see what they have in Grossman. They signed McNabb to an extension in mid-November but only committed $3.5 million more in guaranteed money so they aren’t tied down to him financially. They could release him and only lose $3.5 million in the process, which is chump change when it comes to a starting quarterback.

Thus, that must be the reason Grossman is starting on Sunday – because McNabb’s days in Washington are numbered. They have to be, or else why start the human turnover machine? Because McNabb still doesn’t have a feel for Kyle Shanahan’s offense? If he’s going to be a part of the Skins’ long-term future, then both Shanahans would want McNabb to get as much playing time as possible in preparation for the future. They wouldn’t bench him so he could take cues from Rex freaking Grossman.

Yep, that has to be it. McNabb is done in Washington. No coach in his right mind believes Rex Grossman gives his team its best chance of winning. He may play well for a quarter, a half or even an entire game, but over the course of a season Grossman is not the answer. If Shanahan knows this, then he must also know that McNabb’s time in D.C. is up.

Update: Rich Campbell reports via his Twitter page that Shanahan has informed McNabb that there’s no guarantee he’ll be brought back in 2011. ESPN’s Adam Schefter also says that, “It’s obvious that Donovan McNabb will not be back in Washington this season.”

This is a downgrade to the entire Washington offense: Santana Moss, Chris Cooley, Anthony Armstrong…even Ryan Torain, who is going to get even more attention as the Cowboys dare Rex Grossman to air it out. I see Moss and Torain as fringe WR2 and RB2, respectively, while Cooley becomes a fringe TE1 play.

Author John Feinstein says race is factoring into how Mike Shanahan is handling Donovan McNabb in Washington.

After he benched McNabb for Rex Grossman at the conclusion of the Redskins’ game in Detroit two weeks ago, Shanahan said that McNabb wasn’t physically fit enough to run the two-minute offense because of a hamstring injury. Later it was reported that the Redskins have had to cut the playbook in half because McNabb is having a hard time picking everything up.

That prompted Feinstein to play the race card when he appeared on a local Comcast Sports talk show in Washington recently.

From FOX Philadelphia:

“The situation with Shanahan and McNabb has gotten completely out of control. Shanahan simply won’t say ‘I made a mistake. I got mad at Donovan, I put Rex Grossman in the game and it was a mistake.’ Instead, the first spin is that he doesn’t know the terminology of the two-minute offense, i.e. he’s stupid. The next day, it’s, well, his cardiovascular, he’s out of shape, i.e. he’s fat. Now, he’s leaking to Chris Mortensen — who is culpable in this, too, because I guarantee he didn’t call Donovan McNabb for a response — that we had to cut the playbook in half because of McNabb.”

“I think there’s racial coding going on here, and it’s my belief that that kind of behavior is worth firing a coach for. Dan Snyder’s not gonna do it, but I think it’s out of control.”

I’ve got one, big, fat trump card for Feinstein and his name is JaMarcus Russell.

While the Redskins didn’t sign the mammoth bust, Shanahan did bring Russell in for a workout two days after the Lions game. If Shanahan doesn’t want to work with black quarterbacks, then why bring in Russell? If Shanahan feels as though he has to cut his playbook in half for black quarterbacks, then again…why bring in Russell? It doesn’t make sense.

I think what happened here is that Shanahan got caught overthinking. Grossman had been running the two-minute drill in practice because McNabb had been nursing a hamstring injury, so Shanahan thought he could sneak one past the goalie by bringing in Grossman. Plus, it’s not like McNabb had been sharp up until that point, so Shanahan took a gamble.

Obviously that gamble didn’t pay off, but to accuse the man of racial coding is a bit extreme. This appears to be a classic example of the media looking too much into a situation instead of keeping the matter on the surface. McNabb wasn’t benched because he’s black. He was benched because Shanahan thought he was smarter than everyone and it backfired.

I’ve always liked Donovan McNabb and have always felt that he’s gotten a bad rap for, in my estimation, absolutely nothing.

But let’s go already.

During a weekly appearance on ESPN 980, the Redskins’ quarterback said the idea that he doesn’t know the offensive playbook or has difficulty calling plays is ridiculous.

“That is hilarious to me. That is really funny to me,” McNabb said during the interview. “For everyone who may not have heard this, it’s probably a shock.”

Then prove it.

Look, I thought Mike Shanahan’s decision to bench McNabb for Rex Grossman at the end of the Lions game was horrendous. You don’t bench Donovan McNabb for Rex Grossman. Hell, you don’t bench Jon Kitna for Rex Grossman. He’s Rex Grossman, how good did Shanahan think the guy was when he decided to put the game on his shoulders in Detroit a couple of weeks ago? What a brutal decision.

That said, it’s not like McNabb has set the NFL ablaze with his play this year. I realize he’s only in year one of a new system, but in eight games he’s thrown for 1,971 yards with seven touchdowns and eight interceptions with a 76.0 QB Rating. If that’s not the definition of “meh” then I don’t know what is.

He says he knows the offense. Then prove it. He says this idea that he can’t handle Shanahan’s playbook is hilarious. Then prove it. Shut everyone up once and for all by taking over a game, Donvoan. Put everything on your shoulders and will the Redskins to victory. Let’s see it.

Don’t get it twisted – I’m not calling out McNabb. I want him to succeed so that he can prove all of his doubters wrong. I want him to have the last laugh because he’s a good player and he still doesn’t get the credit he deserves. I want him to lambaste the Eagles on Monday night not because I don’t like Philly or that I’m biased, but because I’m a Donovan McNabb fan. I want him to win.

But crap or get off the pot already. I realize the Redskins’ offensive line has been putrid at times this year and he has nothing to work with in terms of skill players, but I don’t care. The great ones know how to win with less.

I’m not saying he needs to win a Super Bowl and he’s not going to with the talent that the Redskins currently have. But how about giving everyone the ol’ one-figured salute for once by going out and winning a game in the midst of all this doubt? He doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone, but for once, be great, Donovan. Leave no doubt.

The Washington Redskins’ quarterback situation has gone from interesting, to absurd, to ludicrous in the past 72 hours.

With just over two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter against the Lions on Sunday, head coach Mike Shanahan benched Donovan McNabb in favor of Rex Grossman despite the Skins only being down one score. On Monday, Shanahan said that McNabb didn’t have enough “cardiovascular endurance” to run his two-minute offense, which is why he went with Grossman.

Today, Mark Berman of FOX 26 in Houston is reporting that the Redskins will work out free agent JaMarcus Russell, who has been working out in Texas in hopes of returning to the NFL. This is the same Russell who just had codeine possession charges dropped last week.

Now, Russell may be in the best shape of his life but he’s still JaMarcus Russell. He may have seen the error of his ways and has now committed himself to the game of football, but he’s still JaMarcus Russell.

I know the Skins haven’t officially signed him yet, but why? Why JaMarcus Russell?

Maybe I’m looking too much into this, but it’s clear that Shanahan’s confidence in McNabb is disintegrating. He said that McNabb is still his starter, but you don’t bench your starter with the game on the line in favor of Rex Grossman and then turn around and work out one of the biggest draft busts in NFL history during your bye week. Again, maybe I’m reading too much into the situation and there’s a possibility that McNabb’s health status is in question but how good is Donovan feeling about his current situation? He hasn’t fully picked up Shanahan’s offense yet, but it’s only been seven games.

Michael Wilbon wrote yesterday that this will be McNabb’s first and last year in D.C. Seeing as how Shanahan is about to bring JaMarcus Russell in for a work out, I’m not going to question Wilbon’s theory.

Mike Shanahan now has a new excuse for why he pulled Donovan McNabb with the game on the line Sunday in Detroit: Donovan didn’t have the “cardiovascular endurance” to stay on the field and run Shanahan’s two-minute offense.

Come again? Shanahan is kidding right? This is all just one big joke that he and McNabb are in on and they’re eventually going to let everyone else in on it at some point, right?

I don’t care if McNabb lost both of his legs and was throwing up profusely – there’s no way I’m taking him out with the game on the line and putting in Rex Grossman. I know McNabb has been rather average this year and that Grossman knows the offense better after playing under Kyle Shanahan in Houston last season but he’s still Rex freaking Grossman.

Rex Grossman or Donovan McNabb? Donovan McNabb or Rex Grossman? *Makes the gesture of levels with both hands and moves them up and down.

It’s Rex Grossman! Am I on another planet here? Are we in some alternate universe where Grossman led his team to multiple NFC title games and made six Pro Bowl appearances and McNabb was the former first round bust that couldn’t hold onto a starting job (or the ball) with the Bears despite leading them to the Super Bowl? I mean, come on – it’s Rex Grossman…Rex Grossman.

How could McNabb be in good enough shape to play 95% of the game and rush for a team-high 45 yards, but not have enough “cardiovascular endurance” to operate the two-minute offense? Shanahan is full of s*&t. Either that, or he’s completely and utterly delusional.

For the Redskins’ sake I hope it’s the former, although that would mean that their head coach has no faith in his starting quarterback.

This may be an overreaction to what happened yesterday in Detroit, but Michael Wilbon of the Washington Post predicts that Donovan McNabb will not re-sign with the Redskins this offseason.

With just over two minutes remaining and the Redskins trailing the Lions by only one score in the fourth quarter on Sunday, Mike Shanahan pulled McNabb and inserted Rex Grossman at quarterback. On his first play, Grossman was hit, lost the ball and Detroit’s Ndamukong Suh scooped it up for a 17-yard score.

Following the game, Shanahan told the media with a straight face that Grossman gave the Redskins their best chance of winning. After he was finished laughing, it had to have hit McNabb that his head coach doesn’t have complete and utter faith in him to get the job done.

Wilbon, who is a close friend of McNabb’s, doesn’t “believe for a second that Donovan McNabb’s gonna be here next year now.” Not a total surprise given what transpired on Sunday. But the Redskins haven’t been overly aggressive in re-signing him either, so maybe both sides have already soured on each other.

One would think that Shanahan wants to draft and develop his own quarterback. McNabb was a way to make the Redskins more competitive (which they have been), but Shanahan knows that this team is too devoid of playmakers on the offensive side of the ball to be playoff contenders. And by the time they’re ready to compete for a postseason berth, McNabb will be well past his prime.

That said, the hot topic right now is how Shanahan benched McNabb. So it’s not surprising that one of the first articles out of Washington was from a writer stating that McNabb won’t be back next year. The key, however, is that the writer is Michael Wilbon, who doesn’t throw crap against the wall just to see if it’ll stick. He’s well respected in the D.C. area and he knows McNabb, so maybe he’s onto something.