Gruden unsure why Redskins claimed Foster: 'That's a good question'
Washington Redskins head coach Jay Gruden struggled Wednesday to defend the team's waiver claim of linebacker Reuben Foster, who was arrested Saturday on a domestic violence charge.
"That's a good question," Gruden responded when asked why Washington didn't let Foster's legal situation play out before pursuing him. "We probably could've done that. We saw an opportunity there to claim him and we chose to do that as an organization."
The Redskins were awarded Foster via waivers from the San Francisco 49ers on Tuesday, three days after his arrest. They were the only team to put in a claim on Foster, whose off-field issues were well-known when he entered the 2017 NFL Draft out of Alabama.
Foster landed on the commissioner's exempt list immediately after he was claimed, meaning he'll be banned from playing while the league investigates the circumstances surrounding his arrest.
"There's no guarantee he's ever gonna play here, to be honest with you," said Gruden. "He's got a lot of work to do - personally, with the team, with the NFL, with himself, before he even thinks about playing football again."
Upon acquiring him, the Redskins stated they had spoken to several of their players who were teammates with Foster at Alabama about his character.
We asked the following Alabama players if they talked to the front office about signing Reuben Foster:
- Craig Hoffman (@CraigHoffman) November 28, 2018
Allen: did not talk to FO
Clinton-Dix: did not talk to FO
Hamilton: no comment
Anderson (via @Matthew_Paras): no comment
The Redskins' claim was met with public backlash, which continued Wednesday.
"We'll deal with the outcry, so to speak," said Gruden. "This is a young athlete, a young person who got himself into some trouble and we want to find out exactly what happened."
Foster, 24, was one of the top defensive rookies with the 49ers last season. He had 29 tackles in six games for San Francisco this year before he was waived.
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