Redskins head coach Jay Gruden said Monday that Colt McCoy's playing status Sunday against the New York Giants is up in the air after the quarterback sprained his neck in the fourth quarter of yesterday's loss to the St. Louis Rams.

McCoy missed the team's final series after he was hit from behind by defensive end Robert Quinn with 6:54 left in the game. He said Monday that he was sore and was still undergoing testing to determine the severity of the sprain.

"I feel OK," McCoy told reporters. "I just want to make sure that the neck's OK."

If McCoy is unable to play Sunday against the Giants at MetLife Stadium, Gruden said Robert Griffin III –  who was under center for the team's final five plays of yesterday's game – would get the start for the Redskins.

But that determination will come later in the week, the first-year head coach said, after the team can examine McCoy's test results and see how he's feeling Wednesday, when it returns to the practice field to begin preparing for New York.

"I want to see how he [McCoy] is doing first," Gruden said. "I don't want to really rush into any decision at this time anyway. Nobody else has to announce any starters on a Monday press conference so I don't think I should be any different. So I am going to wait and see until I get all the information on the quarterback."

McCoy – who started his third game of the season yesterday – had some struggles for the first time all year against a talented Rams defense. He completed 20-of-32 passes for 199 yards with two interceptions to no touchdowns, and was also sacked six times.

McCoy said Monday he was taking "a lot of responsibility" for the end result against St. Louis – a 24-0 loss that represented the first time Washington had been shut out since Dec. 27, 2009.

"I need to play better. I think we all need to play a little better," McCoy said. "Their defense is good. We made them look really good, but this is the first time in my life I've ever been shutout and I'm sure it's the same for a lot of guys on this team."

Gruden said McCoy was "put in some tough situations" in yesterday's game. As a team, the Redskins ran just 12 times for 27 yards, and had some untimely penalties and special teams gaffes, as well.

"We continue to punish ourselves with holding calls, false starts, mis-targeting a run, poor technique from time to time and we leave ourselves in third down and too long, and we are not very good on third down, obviously," Gruden said. "And then in the second half when it became a one-dimensional game, we're not good enough to overcome those right now at this time. So, unfortunate, it wasn't all on Colt. Obviously he had some issues with protection. Our backs missed a few, our line missed one or two and it was a tough day for the quarterback."

If Griffin III starts on Sunday, Gruden said he hopes the Baylor product has been able to take a "step back, and taken everything in and just continued to learn the position, and learn about concepts we're trying to run" in his time as the team's backup quarterback.

"Hopefully, he'll have a little bit more of a confident air about him when he jumps in there and there's less indecision – is what we're hoping for – so he's more decisive if he is playing and pulls the trigger and just plays," Gruden said. "We've just got to get him to relax, play and have some fun and lead the team if he's the guy to do it."

RELATED LINKS:-- Final Games ‘A Great Opportunity’ For Redskins
-- Redskins-Rams Monday Stats Pack

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