The end of the Robert Griffin III era in Washington may be near.

After the Redskins' disheartening loss to Tampa Bay at home on November 16, RG3 publicly chastised his teammates for an apparent lack of collective willpower. Those remarks led head coach Jay Gruden to state that Griffin "needs to worry about himself" (RG3 later walked back his comments on Twitter).

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Well, it quickly became clear that Gruden's tough love approach didn't light any fire under his quarterback, as Griffin barely eclipsed 100 yards passing and was sacked another five times in a 17-13 loss to San Francisco. With Washington sitting toward the basement of the NFC, reasonable minds are inquiring whether the RG3 era in D.C. is officially over.

Gruden said "the intent" is to start Griffin versus Indianapolis during his latest media Q&A. The Washington Post's Dan Steinberg has the full rundown of Gruden's statements, but anyone who can read between the lines of his remarks will come away knowing full well that Griffin's down to his last chances.

“Well, we want to beat Indianapolis,” Gruden said. “We want to win every game. And I have to put the people in there who [are] gonna help us win those games. [We will] try to put a plan together that will help him succeed. Or we’ll have to find out if somebody else is there that can help us beat Indianapolis instead.”

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When you couple these comments with Gruden's assertion a few days ago that Griffin has "auditioned long enough" for the permanent starting job, it becomes clear Griffin's days are probably numbered. If so, it's a stunning, abrupt, sad, and unceremonious end to an era that began with total promise and excitement during the Skins' postseason run just two years ago.