Every virtue and vice lay only a click away and commentators in every medium routinely decry the present generation has one of entitlement.Patience, then, is rendered a kind of social sin, an awkward and unpleasant feeling to be evaded as soon as possible.
A sentiment Redskins head coach Jay Gruden would like to disassociate from his starting quarterback, Robert Griffin III. Entering his fourth professional season, Griffin has seen himself as destined by his lofty draft status and natural ability to be an NFL quarterback almost by right.
Jay Gruden needed some convincing.
He hasn't been afraid to sit his quarterback when he thought his performance didn't warrant his starting, and hasn't been shy about voicing his opinions on his progression, or lack thereof, in public. He's the second 'Skins head coach to sneak something negative in conversation with reporters about the kid.
After naming him the starter for 2015, Gruden said he would give Griffin the opportunity to find his own way in his second go-round in the offensive scheme. For the plan to work, the coach said, he himself has to be as patient as he expects his quarterback to be.
That, he says, could take some work.
"He's not used to failure," Gruden said. "He's very competitive. It has an effect on him. He wants to be the best, and he's got a long way to go to be that. But he still has the confidence and still the swagger where he thinks he can be, and he's starting to realize he has to put the work in and he has a lot to learn."
So Gruden's No. 1 job this preseason is to coerce that swagger and ability into waiting for the play to develop in front of him rather than he making the play himself every time. His unwillingness to do that at times in his brief career has compromised his chances in becoming what the team hoped he would be when they made those trades for him on draft day, 2012.
Griffin has shown that improvement so far in the spring, establishing himself with more confidence in the pocket in OTAs, locating receivers with greater ease, staying patient, and making better decisions overall. Training camp revealed some inconsistencies, but it has only been two days.
"[F]or the most part, when you play quarterback in this league, you're gonna have to stand in there and make some throws on third down and in the red zone," Gruden said. "Anticipate some windows -- make your reads and change your protections, pick up a blitz, make some things happen off-schedule. That's just continuing to grow as a quarterback."
But no man is an island.
Gruden is also hoping the improvements the Redskins think they made at the positions around Griffin this offseason will help ease him into his starting role as he finds himself in it.
"We can't put all the pressure on the quarterback," Gruden said. "There's only a few quarterbacks in the league that can handle that, and those guys are gonna be first-ballot Hall of Famers.
"The rest of them, they need help. They need help with the running game, some quick-element throws where the receivers do the work for them, screens, good play-action shot plays, good strong defense. If we win 17-13, who gives a [expletive]? We just gotta win."
It's that simple. Especially for a 4-12 team manned by an oft-injured signal caller. He got his fifth-year option, but it's guaranteed for injury, and that $16.2 million that comes with the signature won't be in the mail if Griffin isn't much more the player they imagined they got when they drafted him.
And that means his being patient. The Redskins certainly have been.
No comments:
Post a Comment