From Jackson to Gruden, RG3 and his Elmer Fudd hat are taking fire

So much for backstabbing; people are now targeting Robert Griffin III from the front.

A day after a brutal 27-7 home loss to the woeful Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Washington Redskins' franchise quarterback got a rough appraisal from the head coach who was supposed to relieve him from the overbearing Mike Shanahan.

Jay Gruden told reporters on Monday that his starting quarterback has "fundamental flaws," which is quite a statement considering Griffin compared himself to Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers only a day before. The Bucs would likely agree, as Gerald McCoy said his team game planned around Griffin's slow release and cornerback Johnthan Banks described playing against the Redskins' offense as "easy."

Griffin accepted a great deal of blame in his Sunday news conference following the loss, but all anyone noted was this comment: "If you want to look at the good teams in this league and the great quarterbacks, the Peytons and the Aaron Rodgers'," Griffin said, "those guys don't play well if their guys don't play well. They don't. We need everybody. I need every one of those guys in that locker room, and I know they're looking at me saying the same thing."

More than a few onlookers interpreted that as Griffin putting himself on the Mt. Rushmore of quarterbacks, even though the best game his team played this 3-7 season happened when he was on the sideline watching Colt McCoy beat the Dallas Cowboys. In full context, Griffin's comment wasn't so bad. But a lot of Washington watchers aren't looking for full context when it comes to Griffin.

As that microwaved controversy reached a boil overnight and into Monday morning, Redskins receiver DeSean Jackson posted on his Instagram account: "You can't do epic [expletive] with basic people." And that could be understood as a defense of Griffin (plagued with "basic" teammates), or a blast of him.

Pretty much everything in Washington is open to this kind of interpretation: every in-game throw or postgame comment is either another reason to blame Griffin, defend Griffin or both. Has he lost the locker room? Did he ever have the locker room? Does it matter if he has it or not, considering how leaderless and rudderless the franchise is? Griffin's Elmer Fudd hat on Sunday was so perfect: everyone is taking aim.

But we're beyond target practice now. Even Griffin's most ardent defender has to acknowledge that he wanted to be the team's unquestioned leader, and now that he is, everything is his fault. Gruden called Griffin's play "not even close" to where it needs to be. Griffin is the captain, and the ship is sinking.

The overlooked part of all this is how Griffin can still add a spark when he's in the lineup. Alfred Morris is noticeably more effective behind Griffin, as he rushed for 92 yards in Griffin's first game back against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 9, and a season-high 96 yards on Sunday. And Griffin's arm allows Jackson to use his speed to stretch the field even more than usual. Jackson had 120 yards and a touchdown against Minnesota.

Is that the foundation for a rebirth? Or the dying embers of a fading star? Right now it appears like the latter. Griffin is taking sack after sack, each one threatening a drive and ultimately his career. Washington hasn't won a game Griffin has started and finished in more than a year, and only a fool would bet money that the quarterback will continue to be healthy for the remainder of his career. It's not a question of how to rebuild with Griffin as much as it is a question of whether to rebuild with him. More and more people doubt he's worth the risk – especially considering how confident defenses have played against a quarterback who used to be terrifying. And if he is as reviled by teammates as some say, well, that's another reason to start over with McCoy or someone else. Washington doesn't have enough games left to salvage this season, so December will be about judging as much as evaluating. That's if Griffin stays healthy.

Griffin isn't the only one facing this problem lately. Cam Newton is beat-up and mostly ineffective. Colin Kaepernick is dealing with more criticism than ever. So is Russell Wilson. The only quarterback in the recent crop of heralded rookies to avoid any wave of second-guessing this season is Andrew Luck. Meanwhile, the "traditional" passers are no longer considered dinosaurs: Manning, Rodgers, Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, even Tony Romo. The revolution is going in reverse this season, and it's kicking up even more dirt on Griffin. What a strange year, when Brian Hoyer is the future and Robert Griffin III is the past.

Whatever Jackson meant with his Instagram post, he hit the mark in one way: Other teams are playing epic by mastering the basics, but in D.C., a superbly talented quarterback now looks horribly basic, and the team's spiral is becoming epic.