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| photo by Steven Holland |
Quarterback Robert Griffin III
On the difference
between OTA’s and training camp:
“It’s all business now.
You know we’re getting down to the season time. I think everybody came back in great shape,
as you can see from running a little bit.
Everybody is just ready to go out and compete, so I am too.”
On if there are more
nerves during training camp:
“No, I mean I think I was more anxious, maybe a little
nervous for minicamp than OTA’s. But now
that I’ve been through the offense and had a trial at it, got a taste of how
fast the game is and just what I need to do as a quarterback to help this team
win, I feel a lot more comfortable. So
it’s actually more relaxing. There’s
nothing else going on outside of football anymore. You know we’re in training camp so we’re
pretty much on lockdown, but for a guy like me that’s a good thing.”
On whether or not his
comfort level with the team reduces those nerves:
“Yeah, I mean it’s all smiles in the locker room, so when
you see guys you haven’t seen in awhile and you have that camaraderie, it
really makes you feel good. Even in a
short time, I think we’ve built great relationships. And the leaders are definitely stepping up,
trying to make this team be successful.”
On his comfort level
on the field:
“Throwing with the guys over the break and doing those types
of things gets you more familiar with them.
And you can really see who’s truly dedicated and who you have to
continue to stay on to make sure that they can show the team that they are
dedicated. But aside from that, you know,
just working with those guys is a great thing.”
On judging his own
success:
“That’s like asking, that’s like me asking, ‘Who are you? Why
are you you?’ It’s a difficult question to answer, so success for us is winning
football games. How many that is, I have
no idea. But it’s definitely more than
one, more than two, more than three. So
we just want to go that way.”
On his individual
goals:
“No, I don’t set individual goals, so everything I do is
based on the team. For winning.”
On balancing “celebrity
life” and getting ready for the NFL season:
“It’s great and easy to balance that now because the team
doesn’t look at me that way. They don’t
look at me as a celebrity. Yeah, I’m
their quarterback, and I’m the guy that’s going to lead them and lead them to
victory. But, you know, there’s no
celebrity, there’s no autographs in the locker room, for the most part. I’m not ‘RGIII’ to them, I’m just
Robert. So that’s good to be around
those guys for these next couple weeks and then into the preseason. It’s going to be really good to just bear
down and focus on football.”
On putting aside
everything else other than football:
“I’m not going to any award shows or doing any commercials
during the season. All that’s done. I did my work in the offseason, whether it
was with marketing or just football work, making sure I stayed in shape and
stayed on top of the playbook. I made
sure I did all that, while at the same time making sure I handled my business.”
On if he was
reluctant to do endorsements without proving himself on the NFL level:
“You’re only unproven if you think you’re unproven. So I’m not proven, but I don’t think I’m
unproven either. It’s a hard way to
answer that. But I get what you’re
saying. The only thing I’ve made sure
I’ve stayed with is companies I truly believe in and not just doing things to
get money. So it was a great experience
doing all those things. Everybody wants
to be in a Gatorade commercial, get the Gatorade dripping from your face. It was really fun, so I enjoyed that. But aside from that, it’s all about
football.”
On talking with the
rest of the team before doing endorsements:
“I talked with my guys about that type of stuff. And we wanted to make sure I wasn’t doing too
much before I had already played. But
the situations that arose seemed fine.
And if it wasn’t good, I would have definitely felt it in the locker
room. But when all the guys showed up,
most of them were either laughing about them or just saying that they were
really cool. So I think it rubbed the
team the right way. The biggest thing is
that it’s not just about me, it’s about the Redskins, and they definitely
realize that.”
On staying mentally
sharp with his playbook over the break:
“We didn’t have the
iPad until we got back, so I was carrying around that pamphlet, that big
book. I just made sure that I spent the
right amount of time in the playbook, but I didn’t try to kill myself with it
either. It’s either you know something
or you don’t know something, so for the most part it was just refreshing—seeing
what I liked, writing down questions that I would have for the coordinator and
the quarterback coach, and then making sure when I saw them that I asked them
about those things. I think it
definitely paid off for me. We’re
definitely going to do things that I like [and] the receivers like, and that’s
what you need to do. Players play,
coaches coach, but we’re the ones that have to make the plays, and I think lot
of the guys are going to like what we’re going to do.”
On the routine when
the players were in Waco:
“We went twice a
day. I wanted those guys to get a feel
for who I was. Sometimes you can try to
explain to somebody who you are, where you come from, but it’s best to just
show them sometimes. So I wanted them to
get down there, go through a workout with the Baylor team, and just see how we
worked and those types of things. You
can ask Santana [Moss] about it. He
really liked it. He felt like there were
definitely certain aspects of that that we should definitely bring out here to
Washington. I thought it was a very
productive as far as throwing, but it was also productive as far as being able
to bond.”
On if he paid for
dinner in Waco:
“Well, I was going to pay for all of the dinners, but I
think a couple of the guys covered that.
They said something about tax breaks and business stuff, so I let them
go ahead and take that burden.”
On being the face of
the Redskins:
“It’s a
blessing. Nobody gets to come to the
capital city of the United States and be a quarterback in that town. So I definitely look at it as a
blessing. The fans are definitely
starved for success. But I think the
players in that locker room are starved for success as well. They want to get out and show people what
they’re made of. Whether we’re ranked
first in the poll or fourth in our division, whatever it is, I don’t think
anybody in the locker room really cares.
We know what we have to do to go out and be successful, and we’ve just
got to play. Let your play do the
talking. So I’m very proud to be a part
of this franchise.”
On being the face of the franchise:
“There’s really no
true face of the franchise because if we all just had faces, we’d all be dead.
So you know, there’s got to be a heart, there’s got to be some legs, some arms.
So that’s those guys in there. I guess you can say I’m just the mask. Those
guys are the real ones that make up the body of this team.”
On how much contact he had with offensive coordinator
Kyle Shanahan:
“We talked about
trying to keep it to a minimum just because I knew this was coming - training
camp - and guys can get burnt out. And if you’re constantly calling your coach,
asking him questions about things like that, he can get burnt out as well. So I
try to respect that the fact that those guys are on vacation. If I really
needed to ask him a question, I called him up.”
On if he knew the playbook better now than after
minicamp:
“Yeah, we’re going
to go over and do install days, similar to what we did in OTA’s. And I think
from that aspect, yeah, I think I know it a little bit more because I’ll hear
it. And I won’t just hear the basics of it. I can actually dig deeper into it
now. When it comes to knowing that playbook, no one knows that playbook 100
percent. It’s just about knowing what you have to do and our job is to stay on
the field and score points.”
On if the playbook is modeled toward his abilities:
“I think that’s the
mark of good coaching. They are going to help you do things that you’re used to
doing, put you in situations that you’re used to being in. Of course, I’ve
never played in the NFL so that will take some adjusting, but they are
definitely going to do the things they feel I do best. And it’s not just me.
Every year is a different team, different players and those players do things
differently and do things well and some things not so well. So whatever we do
extremely well, that’s what we are going to run with.”
On if he enjoys the technical aspects and the coaching of
football:
“Yeah, I definitely
do. I respect my coaches. I know as a professional, some guys look at it as
‘eye-to-eye’ and that’s going to take some adjusting to. But I definitely
respect coaching and I like to have that. But like Kyle [Shanahan] told me the
other day, he’s here to help me, not necessarily to coach me. Because I already
know how to play football. He’s just here to help me find my way through the
NFL.”
On if his television appearances affected his teammates:
“I was talking, to
bring Twitter into the playing field, I was talking to Niles [Paul] on Twitter
and he was laughing about one of the commercials, I think it was the Gatorade
one, and I told him I’ll keep throwing the ball to him and then one day he’ll
have his own commercial. It’s not about being in the spotlight, unless you’re
doing it for the right reasons. It’s less about myself and more about helping
get this team back to where it wants to be. Most guys see that and they want us
to be in the forefront, they want us to be talked about in a good way, not a
bad way. So I think those guys look at it as, ‘Hey, we’ve got our chance to
have the spotlight, let’s go seize it.’”
On how he doesn’t want his teammates to see him as
‘RGIII’:
“You can’t be
because I don’t think you can be approachable if you’re larger than life or if
they feel you think you’re larger than life. You have got to be down to earth.
You’ve got to talk to them, be real with them. I think that’s the biggest thing
and I try to be real with all of my teammates. I mean, if they want to call me
‘RGIII’, they can call me whatever they want. I think that persona of RGIII as
far as a fan…it’s not the same feeling for these guys in the locker room.”
On his contract:
“My parents brought
me up pretty good and I’ve got a lot of faith in God so I try not to let
anything affect me too much. It was definitely exciting to sign. Not for the
money, but for the final sign I’ve made it to the NFL not made it in the NFL,
but it was exciting. I was very excited and very proud of that moment.”
On Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora’s comment about
calling him ‘Bob Griffin’:
“That’s Osi for you.
One of my coaches at Baylor called me Bob. Nobody really calls me Bob, but if
that’s what he wants to call me that’s fine. He doesn’t have to call me ‘RGIII’
at all.”
On if he will shut down his Twitter account before the
season:
“As far as getting
rid of it, probably not. As far as tweeting goes, probably not too much
tweeting. We don’t plan on losing that many games, but you can’t tweet when you
win, and not tweet when you lose, so you might as well just not tweet all
together.”
On his emotions toward coaches during a game:
“You’ve got to show
emotion. You know, this is just about being able to control your emotion. So I
play, I’m an emotional player. I know how to control my emotions so I know if
we’re down and the team needs a jolt of energy, I know how to do that. If we’re
up and we need to continue to execute, I know how to do that. It’s just about
knowing how to manage multiple situations, and when it comes to just coaching
on the sideline, I mean sometimes you see coaches and players get into heated
arguments. Sometimes it’s more pretty than other times. But as long as you’re
both fighting for the same goal, I think you can overcome anything like that.”
On if it’s hard for him to stay grounded:
“I don’t know how to
answer that. But I’ve tried to stay grounded the whole time and just, we live in
a ‘right now’ world so, it’s ‘what have you done for me lately’ and, right now,
the only thing I’ve been good for for the Redskins is fan popularity and the
fan base being really excited to come out and support us through the season. So
I just try to make sure I stay focused, continue to work and act like I’m that
undrafted free agent, who is trying to make the team and just go out and
perform that way.”
On comparing Cam Newton’s rookie numbers to what he hopes
to achieve:
“I don’t really pay
attention to much to them [stats]. I was never a stats guy. Don’t really
believe in them. I just feel like you’ve got to do whatever you’ve got to do to
help your team win. Cam definitely had a great year, and you know, he’s looking
to do big things again this year as well. I don’t try to compare myself to
anybody else.”
On handling a busy
offseason:
“[I
am] not overwhelmed. I’m just extremely happy that everything is going
smoothly. [I] just try to stay even-keeled. Now that it’s football time, all
that stuff can be put behind [me]. It’s fun to do the commercials and all that
type of stuff. It’s definitely fun to sign a contract, but now it’s about
playing football.”
On what it will
be like to give his first team speech:
“Right
now the speech duties are going to London Fletcher. I’m not going to try to
trump him on those. If I ever had to just sit back and tell those guys
anything, it’s you want to be certified. One thing I’ve talked to the rookies
about before is if you’re the baddest guy in your group, then you’ve got a
problem. You don’t need to be hanging out with guys that aren’t as certified as
you are, so we have got to make sure that everybody on this team is certified.
And there’s a word that comes after it, but I’m not going to say it in front of
this mic. You have to be certified, and that lets everybody know that when you
run up to the guy next to you, you’re going to take care of business. That’s
what we have to do. It doesn’t have to be a one-man show, and I’m not going to
try to make it a one-man show. It’s about all of us going out there – offense,
defense and special teams – and executing football.”
On the elements
of the playbook that he is most excited about:
“Just
getting productive plays. I thought the defense did a really good job in OTA’s
of limiting us to certain things. We had our big plays and great days. I felt
like they did a really good job, and for me, it’s just about making sure we go
out every day and when we walk off the practice field as an offense, feel good
about what we did. There were a couple of days where we just didn’t feel good
about what we did. Now, that’s a good sign for our defense that they’re playing
so well, but as an offense, our job is to put up points, stay out on the field
and give our defense some rest sometimes when they have those long drives.”
On deciding to
slide or step out of bounds instead of taking hits:
“I’ve
told people this from the get-go. If I need to slide or run out of bounds, I’m
going to slide or run out of bounds. But if it’s fourth-and-one with six
seconds left on the clock in the fourth quarter, I don’t care who that
linebacker is. You better believe I’m going to try to get in that end zone so
it just depends on the situation. If it’s in the first quarter, I’m going to
slide and run out of bounds with the best of them. But if the game’s on the
line, don’t expect me to try to slide or get out of the way. I don’t look at
sliding or running out of bounds as a shot to my pride. I’ve done it before.
It’s the NFL. Guys are bigger, faster, stronger and they hit a little harder so
I’ll respect that. I’ll respect my teammates by making sure I stay healthy and
make sure the fans stay happy as well.”
On what part of
his game translates best to professional football:
“The
ability to lead. If you can play in high school, you can be a great player in
college. If you’re a great player in college, you can be a great player in the
pros. It’s just about what you do to make sure you’re successful. Don’t let
anybody tell you that you’re game doesn’t translate. They might have told [New
Orelans Saints running back] Darren Sproles that, and look what he’s doing now.
The same goes for [Saints quarterback] Drew Brees. I just try to make sure I
don’t listen to too much and hear people say, ‘His game doesn’t translate.’ [I] just go out and play and show people
– not show them up – just show them it
doesn’t matter who you are, how tall you are, how big you are, how fast you
are. You can play in the NFL if you really go out and take care of business.”
On what
surprised him about the media coverage and fan attention surrounding him since
the draft:
“It’s
a similar situation to the one I was in at Baylor. The program had been starved
for success for a long time. We came out, made sure we took care of business
and got the program back on top. It’s a larger scale here in D.C., and I
realize that. But I’m not going to put unnecessary pressure on my shoulders
when I know it’s more of a team thing. All these guys are professionals.
Everybody was somebody, somewhere. It’s just about making sure they’re that
person when we play on Sundays or Mondays.”
On his surprise
at housing prices when shopping for a home in the area:
“I’m
not a spender of money. I don’t spend money that much. The prices on some of
the places were ridiculous, but we handled that. It’s nice out here. It’s like
a jungle. [There are] a lot of bugs, a lot of trees,… but it’s definitely fun.
I’m a chill guy, so I usually don’t do too much, but there’s definitely stuff
to do, whether you’re here in Virginia or in D.C.”
On staying
motivated through the summer heat during training camp:
“I’ll
take this D.C. humidity over Texas heat any day. I feel comfortable out here.
It’ll be fine. As long as you don’t pay attention to the elements and let them
play a factor, then you should be okay. If it’s cold outside – I’ve seen guys
do it before, but I probably won’t – they go and play football with no shirts
on when it’s 20 degrees outside. It’s just about your mindset. If you come
outside saying, ‘Man, it’s hot,’ you’re probably going to have a bad day.”
On maintaining
his optimal playing weight:
“I’m
actually 225 [pounds] today. It doesn’t matter to me what my weight is. One of
the vets told me today, ‘In college they tell you to weigh a certain weight. In
the pros you just play at what you’re comfortable at.’ As long as I’m anywhere
from 218 to 225 [pounds], I should be fine.”
On what he is
doing to gain the trust of his teammates:
“I
think they see how hard I work [and] how hard a lot of these guys work. I talk
to these guys a lot about just about little things, whether it’s picking up on
what [London] Fletcher has done to conquer so long in the league. Sometimes
people think it’s what you say when you’re in the huge group that makes you a
leader, but sometimes it’s the one-on-one conversations you have with guys
individually, just getting to know them. I think I’ve done a lot that. Not
intentionally, it just happens. Some people can do those types of things, some
people can’t. The team might not have accepted as their leader yet, but they
definitely see me as a guy that can help.”
On the
attractions he has checked out in the Washington, D.C. area:
“Not
much, because wherever I go it’s a pretty crazy scene. I’ve gone to movies. I
went on a bus tour in D.C. I went to the U.S. National Team games up there.
That was fun, but other than that, I haven’t really done too much. I try to
stay out of the city, make sure I stay focused and stay grounded, rather than
always being out, always being the focal point of everything. Sometimes you just
need to sit back, sit on the couch and drink some Kool-Aid or something.”
On the type of
attention he receives when he goes out in public:
“It’s
not a mob. It’s not a negative thing. Being a professional football player,
[when] you go places, people are going to want to talk to you and take
pictures. That’s just a part of it so it doesn’t bother me. Sometimes you have
to try to just stay to yourself.”
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