AR benched - Flacco to start next game

[ChoppedWood]

Okay- Steven Holder just now on JMV, and this is the first time I have heard this "confirmed".

Their discussion resulted in what seems to be a confirmation that AR was not putting in the work. Characterized as a last in first out type of thing. Inferred that he also was not killing it in the QB room, not cracking the books, etc... Finally said there was also some unhappiness with some of the "hangers on" that he was spending time with and committing time to. Apparently he just didn't get the gravity of the job and all that comes with it.

Further, Holder said that he is convinced the benching is a Steichen decision. He has a very rational position- when Jim has been at the heart of a decision and there has been criticism, Jim typically pipes up... he has been a ghost during this controversy.

So, this gets really interesting.

Is this a this season development, or is this a since the beginning of his tenure thing?

If this has been the case since the beginning:
1- THEY FUCKING BEEN LYING TO US!
2- Ballard has to be fired over it! He is the vetter, his job title is tasked with making sure all the boxes check. If this has been this way since he got here---- a MASSIVE swing and miss by an all time hack artist! FIRE HIM!

If this just started this season, well fuck, then there's some interesting questions about leadership there:
1- You would assume this has been a thing since TC- and if so, then why the FUCK coming off a rehab, wouldn't they sit him down THEN and tell him this shit isn't acceptable and they have to sit him for a bit to start the season- send a huge message of accountability but also be able to hide it under "his shoulder just isn't ready yet"? You get 7 games into the season before you do this shit- a point where it is definitely going to fuck with the entire fabric of the team? Fuck, if they are that incompetent, and they may be, fuuuuck!
2- You would logically jump to Steichen saying fuck it- we need to win so we'll put up with some of his bullshit in the need for W's. We aren't winning and Steichen just snaps and shuts him down out of anger viewing it from the prism that his lack of commitment is the thing holding us back.
3- If that's the case, Steichen has basically written his own pink slip because that would say no one other than him was ready to go to this level and his bet on Flacco to cover for him, busted.
4- Here's where I find it the most interesting. What if this JUST started happening? When I watched him in camp, he looked dialed in and was a ferociously infectious personality. So this shit starts when the season kicks off? If so, then there is a massive leadership void that probably never resolves. It would say to me at the time when the players must lock in and dedicate 24/7 for 6 straight months- AR just doesn't get it. He worked hard in camp, proved his health, got the job and then said "fuck it, I don't have to keep working like that". If he, in his 2nd year, after a year of being out, decided he could "loaf" because he was back as the starting QB and it was all just going to be there no matter what, well then that would say he has a character flaw and one that I doubt ever resolves itself- that is a remarkable lack of self-awareness.