ANALYSIS/OPINION:
It was around one year ago when “RGIII: The Will to Win” made its debut — a documentary dedicated to the comeback of a rookie quarterback who led his team to a division title and then suffered a knee injury.
It doesn’t look any better one year later.
The self-indulgent exercise — sponsored by Gatorade with Robert “SuperBob” Griffin III listed as an executive director — documented the Washington Redskins quarterback’s rehabilitation after knee surgery following the ill-fated Seattle playoff game in January 2013, and his determination to get back on the field for Week 1 of the following season.
In between the platitudes of hard work and determination, there was this from SuperBob: “You treat the preseason like the regular season whether you’re playing or not. You still approach it like a game so when it is a game it’s not something new to you.”
Oops.
SEE ALSO: Duke Ihenacho brings Redskins hard-hitting style from unconventional background
If we were to treat the 2014 Redskins preseason like the regular season, SuperBob would be holding a clipboard on the bench for Game 1 against Houston on Sunday. He looked lost, and failed to lead the first team to one single touchdown in 11 possessions.
If SuperBob was producing a sequel, it might be called “RGIII: We Fixed What We Had to Fix.”
Not quite as stirring as “The Will to Win.”
“I think the biggest thing for everyone was that we didn’t score any touchdowns in the preseason but as long as we score touchdowns in the regular season that doesn’t matter for us as an offense,” SuperBob told reporters. “We had two solid games and we put together a bad one. That’s what everybody remembers and that’s fine. We’ll get that taste out of our mouth when we play Houston.
“We fixed what we had to fix in practice,” he said. “That’s for us to know and you guys to find out.”
“We fixed what we had to fix” — not exactly an inspiring hashtag from the hashtag champ.
If SuperBob produced a documentary this preseason, would they interview former NFL coach and ESPN analyst Herm Edwards, who said after the Baltimore preseason game — the last time we saw SuperBob — that Kirk Cousins (his rival, not his backup) has outplayed SuperBob?
“Right now I think the problem you have, if you closed your eyes and you didn’t know who was wearing those numbers, Kirk Cousins is playing quarterback more efficiently than Robert Griffin is,” Edwards said. “And that’s just the truth. I’m not saying Robert Griffin shouldn’t be the starter. But Kirk Cousins to me has a little bit more pocket presence, he has outstanding instincts, he slides under pressure, he has nice compact throws, he’s always in balance it seems to me when pressure occurs.
“So he’s more efficient with the offense,” Edwards said. “Robert is trying to learn the offense, stay in the pocket. At times you can see him wanting to leave, but he’s hanging in there. But it wasn’t a good night for him. It wasn’t a good night for the offense, to be quite honest. And then Kirk Cousins comes in, has a couple nice drives. And if you look at it and you didn’t know who was who and you took numbers off the jerseys and said who was the best player right now playing quarterback, well, it would be Kirk Cousins.”
Former Redskins Super Bowl quarterback and preseason TV analyst Joe Theismann was in the documentary last year. Would they go back to him if he had this to say?
“Let’s stop beating around the bush,” Theismann said near the end of the Redskins-Ravens game. “Kirk Cousins has played much better at the quarterback position than Robert Griffin III has. Now, Robert is learning to work out of a pocket. He doesn’t look as smooth or as comfortable throwing the football. I mean, your eyes will tell you everything you need to know.
“It’s going to be a decision that Jay Gruden is going to have to make,” Theismann said. “Right now, Robert Griffin III is his quarterback. Now, if there was a quarterback competition, it wouldn’t be a competition. Kirk Cousins would be the man I believe he would have to go to.”
I’m thinking those comments end up on the cutting room floor.
Here is what hasn’t changed since last year, when SuperBob predicted the future in his documentary.
“I understand when I come back if I don’t look the part and I don’t play the part, I will be criticized and ridiculed for coming back too early,” he said.
He still doesn’t look the part. He still has something to prove. Only this year, it’s “RGIII: I Can Be an NFL Quarterback.”
• Thom Loverro is co-host of “The Sports Fix,” noon to 2 p.m. daily on ESPN 980 radio and espn980.com.
• Thom Loverro can be reached at tloverro@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.