As the Washington Redskins were about to kickoff against the Philadelphia Eagles in an NFC East affair a familiar face was seen among the fans at FedexField. College football coaching legend Urban Meyer was in the building to support his former Ohio State Players on the Redskins roster in wideout Terry McLaurin and quarterback Dwayne Haskins. Meyer was seen sitting in a suite with Redskins injured quarterback Alex Smith. Smith played for Meyer as well as the starting quarterback and Mountain West Player of the Year for an undefeated 2004 Utah team that was victorious in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl.
The rookie duo on Haskins and McLaurin has given the Redskins hope for the future with their strong play and yesterday they had an opportunity to ‘show-out’ for their former coach.
Haskins had his best day as Redskins starter by going 19/28 for 261 yards through the air. He threw for two touchdowns and ran for 26 yards as well.
One of Haskins’s touchdown passes was to McLaurin for 74 yards. McLaurin did most of the heavy lifting, however, for the catch and racing past the Eagles defense to the endzone.
Some fans in attendance wondered out loud if Meyer was a guest of Redskins owner Dan Snyder. The Redskins are wrapping up a disappointing campaign that has produced only three wins and 11 losses coupled with the firing of coach Jay Gruden. Interim coach Bill Callahan has done a nice job of keeping the Redskins players mentally invested in the season and yesterday they almost delivered a huge blow to the Eagles playoff chances ut fell short. The Redskins are still expected to make major changes to the coaching staff as well as parts of the front office after the season so seeing Meyer in attendance sparked conversation on the local airways.
Say what you want about Callahan. Since he took over for Gruden, the #Redskins have competed, played tougher, and look professional. On top of that the young players have responded to him and his approach.
— Lake Lewis Jr (@LakeLewis) December 15, 2019
McLaurin did his part however to explain why Meyer was at FedexField.
“First, just to get that out there, Coach [Urban] Meyer was here to support me and [QB] Dwayne [Haskins Jr.],” McLaurin said. “He was in town, he called me last night and he wanted to come support me at the game. So, he was my guest and it was good to see him again, good to talk to him, surpasses football. It has nothing to do with his coaching status at all and it was just good having him support me again.”
Haskins said it was great to see his former coach.
“He was here? That’s cool, man,” Haskins said. “His spirits were there for sure.” When asked if he knew that his former college coach was going to be at the game Haskins simply responded.
“No, I didn’t know.”
Some Redskins fans want the team to make a splash hire if they decide to not stick with Callahan at coach and Meyer is as big a name in the coaching ranks there is. The situation yesterday, however, shouldn’t be overly analyzed though.