Reid On Washburn: I Was Disappointed In Some Things

Andy Reid didn’t want to go into full detail, but he made it pretty clear Monday afternoon that Jim Washburn’s firing had to do with more than just the defensive line’s inability to get to the quarterback.

“I’m not going to sit here and go into great detail on the whys that I’m doing it, other than I think it’s the best thing for the Philadelphia Eagles football team that I made that move,” Reid said. “This was a move that I made. Nobody else made this move. And that’s important for you to understand. This isn’t a move to save my job. That’s not what that is. This is a move that I think needed to be done now so I did it now.”

A CSNPhilly.com report by Reuben Frank paints Washburn as a disruptive force who undermined the Eagles’ defensive coordinators – going as far as calling Juan Castillo “Juanita” and speaking to him condescendingly in front of players. Reid was asked if it’s fair to say Washburn’s dismissal was not football-related.

“He’s a good football coach,” Reid said. “He’s a good football coach, and I think it was just maybe a give and take. I think he’s going to have a great career down the road with somebody else. …It just didn’t quite work out the way I wanted it to work out.”

In other words, yes, that is fair to say.

“I will tell you there were just things that I was disappointed in,” Reid said. “… I just thought it was the right thing to do right now.”

The fact that Reid’s making the move with just four games left indicates that he felt he just had to get Washburn away from the players and coaches immediately. He said he made the move this morning, but had been thinking about it before then.

“It was done this morning,” Reid said. “It wasn’t all about this game. That’s not what it was. It was just something I had been pondering and working through. And I just thought it was the right time.”

Of course, it must be pointed out once again that Washburn’s failure is Reid’s failure. Reid is the one who decided to add the defensive line coach in the first place. Asked if he second-guessed the decision to add Washburn before naming a defensive coordinator, Reid said, “No, that’s not how I feel.”

In the last 39 days, Reid has fired Castillo, released Jason Babin and now dismissed Washburn. With four weeks to go until the season is over, we wait to see what the next shoe to drop will be.

Follow Sheil Kapadia on Twitter and e-mail him at skapadia@phillymag.com.
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