Jay Gruden on quarterback battle: “There’s more work to be had”

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Washington coach Jay Gruden got to see both Case Keenum and Dwayne Haskins in action on Thursday night in Cleveland. He’s no closer to knowing who his starting quarterback will be.

“I don’t want to make any — come to any conclusions right now,” Gruden told reporters on Saturday. “It’s silly to, so there’s still a lot of ball left to be played, lot of passes, lot of things, lot of situational work we still have to do, a couple more games left, three games left. There’s more work to be had.”

The assembled reporters then came at it a different way, asking Gruden if he feels like he has a better idea as to who the starter will be now versus during the offseason program.

“I feel the same,” Gruden said. “I’m hoping that somebody takes it over. That’s what we’re hoping for, but all three of these guys are good players and they’re going to make their share of great throws and great plays. We just have to continue to monitor them and figure out who gives us the best chance at winning against Philly.”

Gruden offered praise for both of the primary contenders who played against the Browns.

“He came in there second quarter and put a couple back-to-back passes that were really nice out there,” Gruden said regarding rookie Dwayne Haskins. “He had a couple of turnovers, which hurt him. The big thing is we’re trying to really get corrected is just everything — his fundamentals, protectionsm and all that stuff which will come. But, for his first game I thought he handled the pressure, the noise, the cadence, the huddle, the tempo I thought was really good, so there is a lot to build on. Obviously, some correctable things with everybody on offense. We’ll just go back to work.”

Case Keenum received a positive review as well.

“I was impressed,” Gruden said. “He had a big third-down scramble for first down, which was good. He kept the drive going against their [first-string] defense. We were first-and-10 at midfield and we had that unfortunate holding call which was or wasn’t a holding call. But I thought he moved the ball pretty well, had a big third-down-and-15 touchdown pass, saw the field, stepped up and threw a nice touchdown. Good things by Case as well.”

Eventually, it will be Colt McCoy, Keenum, or Haskins starting the opening game against the Eagles. It’s hard not to think that, eventually, more than one of them will be playing. If not all three.