Jay Gruden privately expressed a belief to confidants before Robert Griffin III's dislocated ankle injury that Kirk Cousins would be better suited to run his offense.

Gruden can't publicly express those sentiments due to the support Griffin has within the Washington organization.

The mood in the Washington locker room was jubilent following their 41-10 win without seeming to be concerned that their franchise quarterback left the game with a serious injury.

“We’re sick about it, but now we have to move forward,” Gruden said. “That’s what you do in the NFL when people go down, you have to have good backup plans. That’s why Kirk is here. We feel very strongly about his role as a quarterback.”

A few minutes later he added: “I feel like we can win any game with Kirk Cousins . . . Kirk is a special guy. He started four games last year and didn’t have great success, but obviously has a skill set that I feel like is very much suited for what we do. He can handle it mentally, and obviously, physically. I feel that he can make every throw in the book and we are going to move forward with Kirk.”