Jay Gruden felt pressure and saw it coming when the Washington Redskins fired him on Monday morning.

"I thought it might happen last week after the Giants game," Gruden said, "based on reports and they never said, 'You're not getting fired,' so I assumed I was. I had a good staff there and hopefully they can make it work in the last 11 games and stick around. It's a good group."

Gruden lasted five-plus years with Washington, the longest tenure of any coach under owner Dan Snyder.

There were rumors that Gruden was upset with some of the team's personnel moves.

"I have mixed emotions about it," he said. "At the end of the day if you're not the GM you have to accept the fact that you don't get everything you want. You accept the players given to you. I had input in some areas, but there are some major issues there. It's that way with most coaches, you don't have that total say. It's something you have to overcome and work with the guys you have."

The coach's tenure was marked by injuries as well. The Redskins placed a combined 52 players on injured reserve the past two years.

"I can't remember the last time all my guys played. It's hard," Gruden said. "The majority of our payroll, we paid a lot of money and never had guys on the field. I don't know if many other teams can say that with so many. Some teams lose a quarterback or a tackle. We lost a quarterback, a tackle, guard, center, wide receiver or running back. That's not easy to overcome. But we still should have been better on defense and perform better in certain areas. When you're 0-5, 0-5 coaches don't last very long."