Perhaps, owner Daniel Snyder thinks he'll only add to the circus that is the Washington Redskins by speaking publicly, but ringmaster and coach Mike Shanahan is putting on an entertaining show.
Shanahan addressed the Washington media Wednesday after announcing that he has decided to shut down franchise quarterback Robert Griffin III for the rest of the season in favor of backup Kirk Cousins.
And somehow, that wasn't the most bizarre factoid to come out of the post-practice news conference.
Multiple media outlets have accused Shanahan of trying to sabotage his job by benching Griffin to anger Snyder. The Washington Post reported that Shanahan said, "If I'm trying to get fired, I'm not going to call up Dan Snyder and ask his opinion on a player."
But when asked later why he consulted with Snyder about benching Griffin despite maintaining total control over football operations, Shanahan retorted, "He [Griffin] is your franchise. That's why you ask those questions. You don't do it about the other positions. Dan couldn't care less about the other positions."
That bit of information is consistent with ESPN's report Sunday that Shanahan had his office cleaned out last January because he was angry about the way Snyder was running the franchise, namely the way he "empowered Griffin and esteemed him above all other players."
Snyder, reportedly attending an NFL owners meeting in Dallas on Wednesday, refused comment.
Shanahan's tenuous future with the Redskins and relationship with Snyder overshadowed the controversy over his decision to bench the team's healthy, "franchise" quarterback with three games left.
The Washington Post published quotes in an interview with Shanahan's son, Redskins offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan - quotes that made the announcement to shut down Griffin even harder to figure out.
Kyle Shanahan was talking in reference to last year's playoff loss to Seattle when the Redskins played a clearly hobbled Griffin. He told the paper that sitting a play to avoid an injury is not normal.
"First of all, I've never - in the history of me coaching - never heard a player say he's fine and the doctor say he's fine and then the coach say he's not fine unless the coach doesn't want to play the guy," Kyle Shanahan said last Thursday. Then the coach might [say], 'Hey, you know, you're not that good,' because he really has another agenda."
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