As a starting qb, you don't find out through a public statement that the coach has basically decided you're not the guaranteed starter. Trying to blame the player does not cut it with me--and no argument is going to convince me of that.
I can immediately think of examples where head coaches this year talked about the starting qb and where he stood, and in each case, he said "the qb already knows this, we've talked." That's standard, basic, professional procedure. Watch with other teams far into the future--it will continue to be standard professionalism. McV obviously has a lot of virtues as a coach, but to me this year he demonstrated he is no qb coach and also lacks some of the basics when it comes to how you handle a team. As I keep saying, none of that will happen with Stafford--Stafford is a smart, poised, savvy vet, and I bet he will be an influence on McV. Plus McV has already expressed some regret for how he handled parts of the qb situation (which doesn't mean the actual outcome, a trade, would have been different). As is often the case, the coach has caught on even as some fans do rearguard defending of things the coach has already admitted and learned from.
