A day after Robert Griffin III pointed to his substandard play as a reason the Washington Redskins lost to Tampa Bay, coach Jay Gruden was equally critical of his quarterback’s performance, insisting that Griffin needs to play better as he continues to develop.
Griffin completed 23 of 32 passes for 207 yards and a touchdown in the 27-7 loss on Sunday, but he threw two interceptions, including one on the Redskins’ first play from scrimmage, was sacked six times and missed open receivers on several plays.
“Just from Robert’s perspective — you take everybody else out of the picture — Robert had some fundamental flaws,” Gruden said. “Just critiquing Robert, it was not even close to being good enough to what we expect from that quarterback position.”
The quarterback, Gruden noted, was inconsistent with his footwork, taking one-step drops when he should have taken three steps or taking three-step drops when he should have taken five. There were times when he climbed up into the pocket, sometimes directly into pressure. He occasionally read the wrong side of the field, or, as was the case on his second interception, stared down his intended receiver.
Those are mistakes one could expect from a rookie quarterback, not one who is near the end of his third season. They’re all mistakes Gruden has also gone over, privately, with Griffin before sharing them with reporters.
“I think sometimes once the game gets going and the adrenaline starts going, sometimes you see things that maybe aren’t there,” Gruden said. “You speed things up when you shouldn’t speed things up, and you feel a sense of urgency that isn’t quite there. You just have to play with a little bit greater poise and continue to rep these things out so when you catch a shotgun snap or take a drop from under center, that should be the last thing you should think about.
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“That should come natural, and right now, for whatever reason, those aren’t coming natural — and that’s on us as a staff. We’ve got to make sure we make it as natural for him as possible.”
Griffin forced a throw on his first interception, prematurely escaping the pocket and running to his left before spotting tight end Niles Paul nine yards downfield. Even then, Griffin threw the ball across his body while on the move, putting it so low that it bounced off Paul’s hands and into those of Buccaneers strongside linebacker Danny Lansanah. In the right flat, alone, without a defender within 15 yards, was wide receiver Pierre Garçon.
On the second interception, two drives later, Griffin only looked to his left to Garçon, who was running a 10-yard hitch route. Having never taken his eyes away from his intended receiver, middle linebacker Mason Foster jumped in the passing lane and tipped the pass, deflecting it into the arms of cornerback Johnthan Banks.
“He understands that in that type of coverage, he’s the free player, that he has to control with his eyes and then throw accordingly,” Gruden said. “But he stared down Pierre a little too long and the linebacker made a play.”
After the game, Griffin spent the better part of eight minutes insisting that he had not played well and emphasizing that he would take blame for the performance of the offense. He also said at one point that the rest of his teammates also need to hold share in that responsibility and vow to improve as well, which is the only way the team can improve beyond its 3-7 record.
Wide receiver DeSean Jackson responded to that message Monday morning, posting a quote on Instagram that read, “You can’t do epic [stuff] with basic people.” Gruden said hours later that he’d spoken players that day about the importance of remaining direct during media interviews so words can’t get misinterpreted.
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Shortly after that, Griffin took to social media with his own response:
“It’s unfortunate that anyone would take a piece of my press conference and say I threw my teammates under the bus,” he said in a Facebook post. “I would never throw my teammates under the bus! I take responsibility for my play & will play better. #HTTR”
Still, Gruden said that it’s not up to Griffin to worry about what his teammates are doing and that the quarterback should remain focused on improving over the season’s final six games. So far, Gruden said, Griffin remains “absolutely open” to coaching.
“Sometimes you don’t need great,” Gruden said. “You don’t need to lead at that position on every snap, and he’s obviously very competitive, but we just need him to do what he’s supposed to do. … His fame of mind is in the right place. It just doesn’t come out the right way sometimes, but I think he wants to get better. He knows he has a long way to go to get better, and if he stays on the right track as far as work ethic and listening and preparing, then he’ll get there.”
• Zac Boyer can be reached at zboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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