LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. – After the Redskins were virtually eliminated from the playoffs following their 25-16 loss to the Titans Saturday, safety D.J. Swearinger committed friendly fire.
D.J. Swearinger celebrates with cornerback Josh Norman. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Swearinger voiced his frustrations with the playcalling on defense after the Redskins gave up a go-ahead touchdown drive to Titans backup quarterback Blaine Gabbart.
“I feel like we should have been more aggressive,” Swearinger said in reference to a third-and-7 where Fabian Moreau was flagged for defensive holding. “Playing a backup quarterback, why would you put us in man-to-man? I think it was a horrible call, but I feel like you don’t put Fabian in that situation with a backup quarterback.”
Although he’s been reprimanded by head coach Jay Gruden earlier in the season, Swearinger wasn’t done airing his concerns. “I feel like if we look at the quarterback with all this talent we got in the back end, we would dominate ever team every week. But I’m not the D-coordinator.”
Gruden responded during a conference call with media on Sunday.
“I’m quite disappointed to be honest with you,” Gruden said.
“We made it pretty clear that we try to keep our business within these walls and we’ve had many talks before about that and unfortunately he chose to go to the media again and talk about his displeasure with some of the calls. I know Coach Manusky works extremely hard as does the rest of the staff to put together a game plan and unfortunately we didn’t get it done.”
Swearinger has 51 tackles and four interceptions in 15 starts this season. The 27-year-old signed a three-year contract back in 2017 that runs through the 2019 season.
