Robert Griffin III is an USA football quarterback for
the Redskins of the NFL. He played college football for Baylor University,
and won the Heisman Trophy. He was selected by the Redskins. Griffin
III won the 2012 Offensive Rookie of the Year award. Jay Gruden knows
he wants quarterback Robert Griffin III to
throw the ball away every once in a while. Griffin already made it clear that’s
something he won’t do in practice. It’s something he’s loathe to do in the
regular season as well. Even the Redskins' coach understands why. “Sometimes
you say he should have thrown it away,” Gruden said, “and he scrambles around
and finds a guy wide open and it’s a 70-yard gain and you’re high-fiving him.” Against
the New England Patriots Tuesday afternoon, Griffin had a couple occasions when he didn’t
unload the ball. Rather than throw it away in a practice setting, even if it
was clear he’d have been sacked, he’ll scramble out of the pocket. His goal:
keep the play alive so they can work on the scrambling drill with the
receivers. Griffin
wants to get the other receivers used to knowing what to do when he starts to
run. Jackson
was used to playing with a scrambling quarterback in Michael Vick and, on
tape last year, adjusted immediately as soon as Vick would start to run. Andre
Roberts has adapted well. Santana Moss, in his third year with Griffin, had to shake free
from playing with quarterbacks who did not scramble and was in a structured
system. On two occasions Griffin
scrambled outside the pocket, but he opted to run instead of throwing it
downfield. Another time he found tight end Jordan Reed along the
sidelines. Last week, though, he scrambled to the right and connected on a deep
ball to receiver DeSean Jackson. In those situations, once the play went
away from him, he would be done. “Robert’s so athletic that he thinks he can
keep a lot of plays alive,” Gruden said. “Maybe he can. But there’s a point in
time where he has to not make a bad play worse.” Griffin
and the Redskins’ offense struggled in their first 2-minute drill against New England’s defense. But they improved in their next
showing. During seven-on-seven work Griffin
was more adept at finding receivers underneath Reed in particular. Griffin said, “The time
to throw it away is in the preseason. I understand that. My thing is in
practice most of the time I won’t throw it away and sometimes if the play
doesn’t present itself, I will try to extend the play and work on the scramble
drill. In the regular season the scramble drill is a big part of what we do.
Not every play will work out the way you plan it. In the preseason I’ll
definitely throw the ball away.” What the Redskins want to see from Griffin is a strong
command of the offense, knowing it will take some time. He did have a couple
good throws to Jackson
that showed what they want to see: get to his drop, plant and throw. On the
first, he found Jackson
on a comeback against corner Darrelle Revis. On the second, he nearly
connected on a deep ball in the end zone. Revis, though, wound up knocking the
ball away. Most corners would not have made the play and the Redskins likely
would have argued that Revis interfered with Jackson. A play-action screen to the left was
high and in front of Jackson,
who would have been drilled if it were a regular game. Griffin also was a little off at times,
missing behind Roberts on one cross. “He’s coming,” Gruden said. “He has a long
ways to go but the more chance he has to take a snap from center with people
rushing him, seeing coverages and seeing routes develop, making reads, making
progressions and making throws with his footwork, the better he’s going to be,”
The Griffin wore number 10 for the Redskins.
