I agree with PB, but I remember this a little differently. Correct me if I'm wrong. Griffin was healthy when he was replaced by Droughns in week 5. He blew out his knee playing special teams two weeks later. Right? If so, that doesn't mean Shanny's leash is short. Griffin had one great performance in the opener and just looked lost for the next thee weeks. It also seemed to be getting in his head. Shanahan was by any account very patient and supportive with Griffin, who ran into a tough run of run defenses, lost a game with a fumble that was probably Plummer's fault, gained all of 7 yards as Denver's featured RB against the Chargers, and continued to struggle the next week. Droughns got a few carries late in that game and looked better, the he went for almost 200 yards in his first start, week 5.
Being on the Q bandwagon last year and reading all of Pony Boy's annoying posts...
makes all this pretty clear to me. As a Q owner, I thought Shanny was very patient, and did all he could to get Griffin going until it just became foolish not to look elsewhere. Also, I think Shanny is rather forthright with the media. He dubbed Anderson the starter in early July. He should have been moving up your draft boards way back then. He announced Q as the starter early last year and stuck with him until he HAD to make a change. He'll do the same with Anderson, but he may not HAVE to make a change this time.