Redskins bench McNabb for the rest of the season

Redskins bench McNabb for the rest of the season

2010-12-19 11:40:07 GMT+7 (ICT)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- Washington Redskins quarterback Donovan McNabb will be benched for the rest of the season, after his off-season acquisition worth $40 million, the team said.

After 13 games into the season, at 5-8, the Redskins are out of the playoff picture and head coach Mike Shanahan said he wanted to take a better look at the other quarterbacks. He announced that Rex Grossman would be starting on Sunday, while John Beck will be placed as his backup, putting McNabb as the emergency quarterback

"I talked to Donovan [Thursday] after practice and I told him that once we were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs that I made a decision to start Rex Grossman," Shanahan said.

"I want to get a feel on how Rex runs our offense the next three weeks. I also told him that the next two weeks, following the Dallas game, that John Beck would be the backup quarterback so that I can see him in his role," he added.

On October 31, in a game against the Detroit Lions, Shanahan decided to bench McNabb for the final 1:50, allowing Grossman to run the team's 2-minute offense in their attempt of a comeback. However, Grossman fumbled in his first snap, and the Lions picked it up to score and seal the game.

The incident caused a series of questions and controversies, but the Redskins, nonetheless, decided to give McNabb a contract extension just two weeks after the Lions' game.

McNabb has completed just 58.3 percent of his passes this season for 3,377 yards with 14 touchdowns and 15 interceptions, giving him a passer rating of 77.1 -- the lowest since his rookie year of 1999.

NFL.com's Jason La Cantora cited a player as saying that the players were "extremely pissed" regarding the decision, believing that offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan is using McNabb as a scapegoat.

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