By Tarik El-Bashir
CSNwashington.com
Three days from now, Robert Griffin III will put on Redskins’ game uniform for the first time.
The rookie said Monday he can hardly wait.
“I’m going to be ready to go,” Griffin said during his weekly media availability. “I get my first crack it. I’m not going to make it too big to where I can’t seize it. I’m just going to go out, have fun and do what Coach asks me to do.”
The biggest challenge, Griffin conceded, might be keeping his emotions in check Thursday in Buffalo.
“I think I’ll be more anxious than nervous,” he said. “When you’re anxious, you can’t wait to go succeed. So I look forward to going out and being successful as an NFL quarterback for this franchise. So, in that sense, yeah, I’m anxious to go out and get it started.”
Some other highlights from Griffin’s 17-minute group interview:
—Asked about going from no contact practices directly into the rough and tumble world of the NFL, Griffin said: “By no means am I looking to run a lot in the preseason. …To be honest, if I don’t get hit in the preseason I would be very okay with that.”
—Griffin, who is expected to play 12-20 snaps against the Bills, on his personal goals Thursday: “If we can get one good drive put together. Go put some points up. Or just a really good, long drive, I think that a would be good enough for me.”
—Asked whether he had seen the game film from the Redskins’ 23-0 loss to the Bills last October, during which Buffalo racked up 10 sacks, Griffin chuckled: “No, they haven’t shown me that tape.”
—Griffin on whether he’s getting the ball out of his hands quickly enough: “I think sometimes in practice, I try to err on the side of not throwing the ball into coverage a little bit too much, just because our defenders know exactly what’s coming at them. In the games, things will open up a lot more.”
—Asked whether camp has been more difficult that he had anticipated, Griffin said: “I don’t think it’s been more difficult that I thought. I’ve heard many quarterbacks have been really bad in practice and great in the games. I don’t want to be one of those. There’s practices where you practice really well and there’s practices where it’s not the best day you’ve ever had. That’s being a player.”
—Griffin had “Seize the Moment” written in silver Sharpie on his left cleat and “Seize the Day” on the right. Asked why, he explained, “You want to make sure you come out everyday and get better. Make sure no matter what happens, whether you have a bad practice or a good practice, that you learn from it.
A lot of us made the most of our day today.”
--Asked why he has not attempted many deep throws through the first 10 days of camp, Griffin said: “I think it’s because the defense has been taking it away from us. They’ve been constantly putting coverage over the top.”
--On the inevitable rookie mistakes he’ll make, Griffin said: “Just don’t look at myself as a rookie. Don’t make it acceptable. The way I look at it, you have to not take that and say, ‘All right, well they’ll give me a pass because I’m a rookie. Sometimes you have to be hard on yourselves.”
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