Jay Gruden: Colin Kaepernick Discussed, Will Not Be Pursued by Redskins

The Washington Redskins are in desperate need of a quarterback, but it won't be Colin Kaepernick.

Head coach Jay Gruden said the Redskins discussed Kaepernick but decided not to pursue him because it would force too many changes to their offensive scheme in order to better suit the free agent's skill set.

"He's been discussed for sure," Gruden said. "It's just going to be a matter of which way you want to go."

Gruden said that the difficulty with signing Kaepernick would be having to "teach a whole new offensive with a lot of zone-reads" to center around his mobility.

"There's not a lot of time to get a brand-new quarterback and system installed in a couple of days," he said. "He's been talked about, but we'll probably go in a different direction."

Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem in an attempt to draw attention toward issues of social justice in 2016, which drew both praise and criticism from fans and owners alike. The former San Francisco 49ers starter hasn't played in an NFL game since 2016 and filed a similar grievance against the league -- which was recently sent to trial and denied the league's request to have it thrown out -- claiming to be blackballed from signing with an NFL team.

Gruden reiterated that the decision not to sign Kaepernick was strictly football related. Instead, the Redskins will stick with Mark Sanchez, who took over for an injured Colt McCoy on Monday and signed with the team after Alex Smith's injury several weeks ago.

"Just football, strictly football," Gruden said. "When you're talking about a backup quarterback this late in the game you want someone with a similar skill set to the quarterback you have. Not that Colin can't do some of the things we've talked about, but we want someone with a little more familiarity.

"Sanchez had experience in a pro-style offense. That helped out a lot. But when we had a short week going to Dallas [on Thanksgiving] you had to have someone in here who had some similar conceptual awareness that we had with Colt. That's why we went with Sanchez."

Washington passing game coordinator Kevin O'Connell was Sanchez's backup for three seasons during his stint with the New York Jets. Offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh was the Jets' quarterbacks coach during the former No. 5 overall pick's first four seasons.

Redskins offensive line and assistant head coach Bill Callahan helt the same titles during three of the former starter's four seasons in New York.

McCoy will miss the remainder of the 2018 season due to a lower leg injury suffered during Monday's game against the Philadelphia Eagles joining Smith, who suffered a season-ending injury last month.

X-rays showed that McCoy had a fracuted fibula, according to Monday Night Football sideline reporter Lisa Salters during the game's broadcast. The Redskins confirmed that McCoy was ruled out for the remainder of the game after initially listing him as questionable to return via Twitter.

Smith broke two bones in his right leg during the third quarter of a loss to the Houston Texans.

Head coach Jay Gruden confirmed the quarterback suffered a broken tibia and fiubla -- after it was initially believed to be an ankle injury -- and would need immediate surgery.

Smith's injury took place 33 years to the exact date that former Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann infamously experienced a career-ending broken leg injury during a Monday Night Football game after taking a hit from future Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor.

Theismann, who was in attendance, also assumed the worst, tweeting that Smith's "leg is exactly like mine 33 years ago."