Redskins' Jay Gruden: Colin Kaepernick 'discussed,' but QB not right fit for team now

The Washington Redskins have lost two quarterbacks to broken legs in three weeks, but adding Colin Kaepernick still isn't in the team's plans.

“Oh, he's been discussed for sure, and right now at this point, we already had a workout last week for the few guys,” Redskins coach Jay Gruden said Tuesday. “We had a couple other guys come in today and then it's just going to be a matter of which way we want to go. 

"Not a lot of time to really get a brand new quarterback and new system installed and taught in a couple of days of practice. He's been talked about and discussed, but we'll probably go a different direction.”

Starter Alex Smith suffered a broken fibula and tibia in a Week 11 loss against the Texans, which left backup Colt McCoy to take over the offense. Then, in Monday night’s 28-13 loss to the Eagles, McCoy suffered a broken fibula.

Gruden also said that McCoy underwent successful surgery for his injury, but that the team is optimistic that he could possibly return to play if Washington remains in the playoff hunt. The team won’t place McCoy on injured reserve, as a result.

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That leaves third-string quarterback Mark Sanchez – who, coincidentally just like Kaepernick, had last played in a regular season game in Week 17 of the 2016 season – to lead Washington’s offense in the short term.

Sanchez struggled to get much going on offense Monday night, completing just 13 of 21 passes for 100 yards with one interception.

Kaepernick remains unsigned as he continues to pursue an ongoing collusion case against the NFL, alleging that team owners throughout the league have purposefully denied him employment due to his outspoken and public stance on issues of social inequality.

“I think when you're talking about bringing a quarterback in, I think you have to think of, A, what is that quarterback's skill set?” Gruden said. “B, how can you implement that skillset to fit your offense without having wholesale changes? Had this been Week 1, maybe he would probably be a greater possibility but since it's Week 13 with four games to go, in order to really utilize somebody like Colin Kapernick's skill set, you're talking about a whole new group of formations and run concepts and all that good stuff. It's just very difficult.”

Kaepernick, however, once spelled Smith when both were players for the 49ers.

In 2012, when Smith suffered a concussion in San Francisco, it was Kaepernick who eventually grabbed the starting spot under then-coach Jim Harbaugh and led the 49ers to a trip to the Super Bowl.

Washington hosts the Giants in Week 14 before finishing its season with games against the Jaguars, Titans, and Eagles.

Follow Lorenzo Reyes on Twitter @LorenzoGReyes.