Washington Redskins’ QB Robert Griffin III spoke to the assembled media after Thursday’s OTA session and says his injury has forced him to do more film work. “I will master the offense so I can beat teams with my mind.” It’s a mind-game, indeed.
“My view is I can’t change my mindset but I can be smarter about what I do on the field,” Griffin said is last week’s presser. “I have a year of experience in the NFL. Some may think that’s not a lot but a year of experience in the NFL is a big deal. I know what I have to do and what I don’t have to do out on the field. It is all about limiting the hits and being able to stay on the field for my teammates. If it is third-and-7 and I am three yards away from the first down, then I need to slide or get out of bounds. After what happened to me and the team at the end of the year, I understand that I have to be on the field and more careful while I’m out there. I can still keep the same mindset about wanting to run every play but just knowing to be careful.”
Griffin says the doctors cleared him to run this week. He didn’t waste any time to do so either, as the QB said he ran two miles earlier this week. Griffin will be able to do some explosive sprinting in June, although he admitted to “kind of” doing some explosive sprinting today. Then joked, “I have to be patiently aggressive.” I’d be surprised if the business savvy Robert Griffin III doesn’t coin that phrase!
Although no injury is ever fun or cool to sustain, the Redskins may have one of the better all-rehabbing groups in the league. With the likes of receiver Pierre Garcon, tight end Fred Davis and rookie utility receiver Jordan Reed — they are getting some quality work in and it shouldn’t be overlooked. These are all players who are expected to recover soon and be key targets for Robert Griffin III.
With the addition of Jordan Reed, the Redskins could quite possibly have their own version of the New England Patriots’ Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. In fact, here’s the similarity between Gronk and Fred Davis — according to Pro Football Focus, both players ranked the highest in yards per route run last season. Which is pretty interesting since both players had their season cut short by injuries.
With the team’s third round pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, they selected Florida tight end Jordan Reed, who really isn’t even a tight end. Many label Jordan Reed’s type as a “joker” tight end — I just call them utility receivers. What the Washington Redskins are about to do is take a page from Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots’ playbook. Reed is similar to Aaron Hernandez, who the Patriots use all over the place. The Redskins want to spread the field, much like New England and put their most dynamic receivers on the field — Pierre Garcon, Jordan Reed, Fred Davis, etc. Creating match-up nightmares for defenses.
So, with all these players working with Robert Griffin III while rehabbing injuries — this could be a hidden key situation that could make their connection even stronger on the field.
