Chewing

It’s been suggested that Brad Childress‘s remarks in the wake of this weekend’s unspeakable disaster represent a softening of his stance on Tarvaris Jackson‘s status as the starting quarterback.  Chilly, some would have us believe, is wavering.  But is he really?  Let’s start with his actual words:

"I’m always looking at what’s giving us the best opportunity to win. If it’s Tarvaris, it’s Tarvaris. If it’s Gus Frerotte, it’s Gus Frerotte. J.D. Booty, it’s J.D. Booty. I know I was asked a question yesterday, is that the guy who who’s going to be the quarterback at the end of the week? That’s something that is ongoing. You don’t crown a guy king and then the king doesn’t have any clothes on and you say, “Hey, he’s still the king.” You just need to make sure you’re doing the right thing there. We’re chewing on a bunch of things right now and making sure he’s the best guy for us to go forward."

I’m not sure what all that about kings and clothes has to do with anything so I’ll skip it.  The main thing here is that I honestly don’t think Chilly has changed his stance on Tarvaris at all.  To me he’s saying the same stuff he’s always said about anything:  We’re always evaluating.  It’s an on-going process.  We’ll do what’s best for the team.  This is all Chilly-code for “I know what I’m doing and I don’t want the media breathing down my neck about it so please leave me alone to work my football magic.”  I truly don’t believe that Childress is even close to giving up on Tarvaris yet.  Of course, the question then becomes, “How close is Zygi Wilf to giving up on Childress?”  I don’t mean that I think Zygi is about to fire Chilly – but I do think that, if things get bad enough, Zygi could send down a decree to bench Jackson.  Or he could make Chilly get a new offensive coordinator.  If the team ends up something dismal like 0-4 then a shake-up has to happen, and if Childress won’t do it, then someone above him has to send down the orders.