Wife of Redskins general manager apologizes for vulgar tweets toward ESPN reporter

The Washington Redskins’ preseason took another bizarre turn Wednesday night, when the team issued a statement on behalf of its general manager’s wife apologizing for vulgar statements she made about an ESPN reporter.

“I deeply apologize for the disparaging remarks about an ESPN reporter on my personal Twitter account,” the statement from Jessica McCloughan read. “The comment was unfounded and inappropriate, and I have the utmost respect for both the reporter and ESPN. I regret that my actions have brought undeserved negative attention to the Redskins organization and its leadership. My comments in no way reflect the opinions or attitudes of the organization and I regret that my behavior has in any way negatively impacted the team and its loyal fan base.”

The ESPN reporter McCloughan is referring to is Dianna Russini, who broke the news that Kirk Cousins will replace Robert Griffin III as the Redskins’ starting quarterback last weekend. That night McCloughan suggested in a tweet that Russini must have performed sexual acts in exchange for the information.

McCloughan sent out another tweet saying that the leaked information came from her husband, Scot McCloughan, and that Russini was his “side chick.”

Jessica McCloughan’s Twitter account was later disabled. Her tweets regarding Russini can be seen here (warning: strong language).

ESPN released a statement in defense of Russini: “Dianna is an excellent reporter who should never have to be subjected to such vulgar comments. We are obviously extremely disappointed by today’s developments.”

Earlier in the preseason, Griffin suffered a concussion while playing against the Detroit Lions. The Redskins announced he had been cleared to play last week, only to take it back the following day. Then came Coach Jay Gruden’s announcement that Cousins would be the team’s starting quarterback for the season, six months after saying the same about Griffin.

The next day Griffin said an intern was responsible for “liking” a Redskins-bashing Instagram post using Griffin’s account.