"Winning takes care of everything," Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III is wont to say.
A statement that, if true, proves the point that very little of anything is being taken care of in Washington these days. After a rookie campaign in 2012 that saw Giants defensive end Justin Tuck admit to suffering nightmares about the terror he saw in the little man under center, a bushel of injuries and coaching changes have the Skins languishing for answers once again.
The litany of losing has every Tom, Dick, and Harry looking forthem, and as the losses pile up, so does the anger. As does the anger, so does the blame. Head coaches and quarterbacks are first in the sights of those seeking answers. Especially the anonymous.
Who, in droves, spoke recently with ESPN's Mike Sando about the epidemic of losing in Washington. The source of their ire almost exclusively was the Redskins’ quarterback.
"There's no coming back," an offensive coach said of Robert Griffin III. "He is done. The reason is, the injury slowed his legs, and his ego will not allow him to hit rock bottom and actually grind his way back up the right way."
Sando in 2014 engaged on a personal quarterback ratings crusade, taking opinions and commentary from a legion of sources: eight personnel directors, six general managers, four head coaches, five offensive coordinators, five defensive coordinators, three salary-cap managers, two ex-G.M.'s, two ex-head coaches, and one offensive assistant coach.
Yes, they did refuse to give their names. But how else do you get the truth? Men say what they think when and only when they know no one else will beat them up for saying it. You could call it cowardice, and you might be right. Whatever it is, it's honest.
Perhaps too honest for RGIII's ears. And legs. And ego. And anything else prone to being broken in an off-tackle rush attempt.
"To get better in this league, you have to have a degree of humility," a personnel director told Sando. "When [Griffin] looks in the mirror, he is seeing things that everybody else is not seeing. That is why I was surprised when they gave him the fifth-year and said it was an easy decision."
This was the overriding concern among the inquired, that Griffin is too egotistical to lend himself to the counsel of coaching. Cue those memories of Mike Shanahan, who famously said after he left town that RGIII stopped just short of actually demanding which plays be called and which others be stricken from his playbook.
Shanahan was one of the few people connected with the franchise who said what he thought with his name attached. Jay Gruden was the other. Little of it was complimentary on either occasion. But, for Shanahan, Griffin’s being a control freak [allegedly] wasn’t the only thing that concerned him.
"I don't think getting hurt has anything to do with [his regression]," he said in May. "You don't have to have great running ability to run the read-option. You have to be able to know when to slide, when to throw the football away, depending on if you're running or passing."
In other words, decision making. Running and sliding has been the bane of Griffin's existence, so head coach Jay Gruden has been asking him to develop more into a pocket passer, building up the reps in OTAs on what will be their No. 1 priority in training camp next month in Richmond.
He showed progress in that department this spring, finding receivers easier out of their breaks and throwing with more confidence out of a surer pocket. But that continued ailment of his, nervousness and the tendency to flee, has gotten him into some well-documented troubles. His future depends on that habit being broken, fast.
But old habits die hard, as do old gameplans.
“I know how hard it is for a quarterback to go into a system for the first time,” a second G.M. told Sando. “With Griffin, I’m taking into account the new offense, the new personality at head coach, coming off an injury. He showed his rookie year that he could be a [top passer]. He is a young guy. I’m going to give him the benefit because of that.”
So, youth is the silver lining in an otherwise grey and foreboding cloud.
Obviously, the words of some unnamed sources aren’t tantamount to what a quarterback can do once exposed to real-time game action. But they are tantamount to what a quarterback has done once exposed to real-time game action. These are professionals who study game film and assess players for a living. And history tells us that things which begin at the top often fall the hardest. Early success combined with confidence breeds entitlement, and the unwillingness to improve.
The antidote? Humility, perseverance, and toil.
Granted, Griffin has spent much time off the field, particularly last season. But those games he played in 2014 showed few flashes of what his rookie season promised gullible Redskins fans desperate for some prolonged bout of good news. There were flashes amidst a four touchdown showing in seven games, like his performance against the Eagles in Week 16: only seven incompletions on 220 yards in a major upset win that eventually nudged Philadelphia from the playoff race.
That victory came with the help of a prideful run game in the red zone. All three of their touchdowns came from running backs, and the Redskins held firm at the line that night. But it was Griffin who paced drives with short passes to set up those chances. And the occasional bomb for DeSean Jackson, which doesn't hurt.
Football is, lest we forget, a team game. The success or failure of every man is largely, though not entirely, in the hands of every other man on the field. A quarterback depends in very large part on his ability to stay on his feet. Offensive line play has been hard to come by in recent outings for this club, something they hope is in some measure solved with the addition of rookie tackle Brandon Scherff.
But the road from here to September is still liberally paved in doubt. Andy Benoit of Sports Illustrated ranked Griffin 31st in the league at his position.
“He doesn’t have any sense right now of basic quarterbacking fundamentals,” he said. “He’s got leaps and bounds to go just to being an average NFL quarterback.”
All of these comments are well and good. But it’s G.M. Scot McCloughan, who has been no shrinking violet in his first year at the helm, who makes the decision. He’s made it, giving Griffin his fifth-year option, worth around $16 million. And he believes for good reason.
"I think this season is going to tell a lot," McCloughan said.
Well, yeah.
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