Former players react to Dwayne Haskins talking to offensive linemen

A clip of Dwayne Haskins talking to his linemen went viral after the Redskins lost to the Jets. Here are the reactions some former players had to it.

In the wake of the Washington Redskins loss to the New York Jets, the hot-button topic hasn’t been the team’s performance on the field. They’ve performed poorly, for the most part, all season. While some expected better effort against the Jets, the end result can only be referred to as a mild surprise.

The main topic of discussion after the game has, naturally, been Dwayne Haskins. However, the surprise is that the discussion hasn’t been about his play. More of the talk has been about a 30-second clip of him talking to his offensive line that was captured on the sideline.

During the clip, Haskins appears to be asking the offensive line what he can do to help them while they looked on disinterestedly. And this has sparked discussion about whether or not Haskins proved himself as a leader or overstepped his bounds and is deflecting blame.

As our own Ian Cummings pointed out in a recent piece, this debate is mostly pointless, as it’s impossible to glean much from a 30-second clip from a three-hour-plus game that also included on-field interactions and locker room interactions. But nonetheless, the topic is being discussed.

And now, some former NFL players have weighed in on the clip, and they mostly seem to be siding with Haskins, and are implying that the Redskins O-Line has given up on the season.

Here’s a look at the thoughts of some of the former players who weighed in, starting with former Panthers and Giants RB Jonathan Stewart.

Former Broncos and Browns safety T.J. Ward also offered his thoughts in response to Stewart and sympathized with Haskins’ plight.

And perhaps the most damning of all is that former Ravens, Titans, and Panthers offensive tackle Michael Oher agreed that the offensive line was “ok with not having it” as Stewart initially stated.

It’s worth noting that this is just the opinion of a few former players, so this doesn’t necessarily mean anything. They haven’t been on the Redskins sidelines, so they are speculating just like everyone else who has weighed in on this topic.

That said, these players have actually been on NFL sidelines, so they know a thing or two about leadership and those who want to win. And given that all of these players have at least played in — if not, won — a Super Bowl, their opinions do have some value.

Either way, it does appear that the Redskins veterans have quit to an extent during this lost season. The young players like Haskins, Derrius Guice, and Terry McLaurin are still hungry to win, but the veterans seem to be complacent at this point. And that just further points to the fact that the Redskins need a drastic culture change in the post-Jay Gruden era to really change the culture of this team, which is not “damn good”.

Make what you will of this clip for the time being. We’ll see if Haskins can grow on the field in the next week and if he does, in fact, emerge as a leader.