When the Redskins decided not to select a quarterback in this year's draft, it was seen by some as a vote of confidence for John Beck and Rex Grossman, who have emerged to campaign for the starting job.
Of course, the wait-and-see situation with last year's starter, Donovan McNabb, plays heavily into how big of a role Beck or Grossman play next season, but the feeling is the veteran -- who was voted by peers as the No. 100-rated player on NFL Network's "Top 100 Players of 2011" countdown -- won't return.
Beck and Grossman both long for the starting role, but Beck insists there's no friction between the two signal-callers.
"We're both professionals," Beck told *The Washington Post* this week. "We've been in this situation before. I get that question asked all the time. But is this the first time that either one of us has competed for a job with an NFL team? No. We know what the feeling's like. We know the way the team views it. We know how we have to both be as the quarterback of the team. It's part of the job and both of us know that, and we're used to it and that's just what it is."
Beck -- whom coach Mike Shanahan has said he "think(s) the world" of -- has taken on a leadership role by communicating with teammates and organizing workouts during the lockout, per reports in The Post.
"We have stuff going on," Beck told 102.1 The Game in May. "We have plans in the future for another big giant group, full-team type deal, like we did last time -- and hopefully we get some more guys out -- but we have things.
"This is important to us, it's important to the Redskins, to the players. We're doing the best we can in this kind of crummy situation. We're trying to find a way so when the doors are open, we can go out there and be the best football team we can be."
Grossman, who started the final three games of last season with McNabb on the bench, is a free agent, but told SiriusXM NFL Radio earlier this month that he'd like to remain in Washington and start.
"I mean, these things normally work themselves out in OTAs and minicamp and going into training camp," said Grossman, who is an unrestricted free agent. "When there's competition at a position, it's usually pretty obvious at the end. So I'm not worried about people being given the job, unless you're the number one pick in the draft and things like that."
Tight end Chris Cooley told The Post that each passer has stepped up: "I think both of our quarterbacks have done a great job of giving us a script and telling us what plays we're going to run and leading the offense."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
