Joe Gibbs claims no knowledge of bounties in Washington

Former Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs says he had no knowledge of a bounty system that was in place with the team during his second stint with the team.

Gibbs told Mark Maske of the Washington Post he didn’t know that former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who was exposed Friday following an NFL investigation of a similar system with the New Orleans Saints, ran a bounty system with players in Washington.

“Just let me say this: I’m not aware of anything like this when I was coaching there,” Gibbs told Maske. “I would never ask a player to hurt another player. Never.”

The Post detailed how Williams did have a similar system in Washington and it was best described by Matt Bowen, who played under Williams for the Redskins right here in the Chicago Tribune.

“In my life, I wouldn’t ever tell a player to hurt somebody,” Gibbs said. “They may say, ‘Well, Joe would know, because everybody else knew.’ But I didn’t know. I’m shocked by this.”

In the Post’s report, players say Gibbs was not involved in a bounty program. It will be interesting to see if the NFL digs into just what happened in Washington and if that franchise could face sanctions.

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Brad Biggs covers the Bears for the Chicago Tribune