After the Washington Redskins lost 27-3 to the New York Giants in Week 4, Stephen A. Smith said coach Jay Gruden “quit” on his team and predicted he would be fired if they lose to the New England Patriots in Week 5.

On Friday, after named Colt McCoy as his starting quarterback, Gruden retaliated against the famed ESPN analyst.

“I heard about that one. That one is far from the truth. Those are fighting words for me,” Gruden said, via John Keim of ESPN. “That's one thing I will never do or have done in my life. I work extremely hard, getting up early as hell and working late and doing the best I can to get ourselves a victory this week. I have a lot of respect for everyone in this locker room and the last thing I would do to these players is quit on them because I know they're not going to quit on me.”

Gruden is undoubtedly on the hot seat. His Washington team sits at 0-4, and with a matchup against the 4-0 Patriots coming Sunday, that could easily be 0-5. While losing out in the first month of play, his team has lost by a combined score of 118-66.

Since taking over as head coach in 2014, Washington has gone 35-48-1 and visited the playoffs once, but only for a brief stay. The hope, for Gruden, is that McCoy can save his job by bringing life back to his offense. If not, analysts — like, and including, Smith — will continue to berate the head coach.