By Rich Tandler
To Rex Grossman, the Redskins were a few plays away from taking control of their game against the Jets. When asked about his performance against the game, here is his response:
“Generally, there were some plays, normally on our field goal drives, had I made quicker decisions, we might have had four more points. Our last field goal, there might have been an attempt to move the chains and we ended up getting a long field goal. End of the first half, I was a little late on one play – it got tipped. Those are two areas that I definitely just need to do a better job during the week of exactly how I’m going to go about running those plays with footwork so that everything times up. It was more of a fundamental footwork area that I was late to both of those plays. Those are the things you look back on when you lose as plays you can do better. When you win, those kind of get shoved under the rug.”
The emphasis is added at the end. It made me do a double take when I listened to it. I know that winning is a great deodorant and that to fans and the media, mistakes made in victories are minimized.
But can an NFL quarterback really sweep mistakes made in wins “under the rug”? Is that the way to develop consistency in the offense? Does the practice of brushing aside mistakes because the scoreboard wound up in your favor help you win more games in the future?
Tom Brady, the quarterback the Redskins will face on Sunday, already has his ticket to the Hall of Fame punched. He is one of the top two or three quarterbacks in the game and in the discussion for being one of the best ever.
But I guarantee you that if Brady goes 30 for 35 against the Redskins with four touchdown passes and one interception in an easy Patriots win, he won’t be shoving anything under the rug. In film study after the game and in practice the next week, the focus will be on what went wrong on the interception and the five incompletions. Perhaps even some completed passes will come under scrutiny if they were not thrown to exactly the right spot.
Brady’s approach and sure-fire Hall of Fame status are not coincidental. The difference between mediocre players and great ones isn’t necessarily physical talent. Often a player’s mental approach makes all the difference Brady does not accept anything less than perfection regardless of the result on the scoreboard. Apparently Grossman is willing to settle for something less than excellence as long as the scoreboard looks good in the end.
Perhaps if Grossman took Brady’s approach instead of blowing off mistakes he made in the Redskins’ rare victories, he might become a more consistent player. That might lead to fewer errors and more wins.
Do you think that that what Rex said indicates an issue with him? With the organization?
Comments