Robert Griffin III met with the press on Monday, July 30. Here is a transcript from Redskins PR:
On how the team feels after the fourth day:
“[We’re] feeling good. Both sides of the ball are really competing pretty well, so that’s a good thing to see. You know, at OTA’s, I felt like the defense kind of dominated. And coming out here in camp, I think the offense has really stepped up and played well.”
On how he feels after the fourth day:
“I think it’s going great. The more practice you can get, the better it is. That sounds like a cliché, but it’s really true. I feel a lot better today than I did in OTA’s and rookie minicamp, so it’s really going well.”
On anything that has surprised him during training camp:
“I mean, you’re away from the outside world. So it’s no different than a college training camp, just harder. These are the best athletes in the world, so it’s going to be a grind everyday. You know, everyday we lace them up, in college you try to imagine that it’s game day everyday. But for us out here, you know, these guys are out here competing, not only to make themselves better, but to have a job. So everyday is game day, and everybody comes out to work everyday.”
On whether or not the strong defensive pressure is by design:
“Yeah, I think Coach [Mike Shanahan] is trying to get me the hardest looks possible so that I can be ready for those types of things. You know, whether teams decide to blitz and bring a lot of pressure, sit back and drop everybody into coverage, or if they just play their normal defense, we’re preparing for everything. And, of course, you can try to prepare for everything and still go out there and get a curveball thrown at you. But I think Coach is doing a great job of not only getting the defense better by getting them to show many looks, but also helping us offensively see many different things.”
On the two back-to-back-runs into the end zone with a “wiggle” at the end of the second drive:
“A little wiggle or something…that’s a very nice description. You know, it’s great to get out there. It’s great for the fans, but it’s also good for us as an offense to score in red zone type situations. As a team, we struggled last year with that. So I think it will help the team be very confident that when we do get in the red zone, whether it’s throwing the ball or running the ball in, we can do it.”
On Rex Grossman’s support:
“Rex is great. If you ask anybody on the team, offensive linemen, just anyone, they’ll tell you that Rex is a baller. And he goes out, he works hard and does what he’s supposed to do to try to help the team win. Unfortunately it didn’t work out for Rex, and, you know, I’m here. But he’s definitely stepping up to the plate and helping me out and not being bitter about it at all. So I think it’s great to have a guy like that here just to give me little tips, just on how to do things. And it’s definitely been a big help for me.”
On how many times he has had to start over because of a mistake:
“Not very often. As an offense, I try to pride myself in being ready every day with the script, going out and getting the plays to the team. And not just getting it to them, but saying it with confidence. So it’s not very often that we do. Sometimes we go out there and we line up in the wrong formation and have to come back to the huddle. That’s just the nature of the game. In a real game, you go run the play in whatever formation you called out there. So it’s not very often. So I think you can ask anyone else of the coaches and they’ll tell you that.”
On how it has been with Offensive Coordinator Kyle Shanahan talking through the headset:
“It’s been fine. I mean, in OTA’s it was a little static-y through the earpiece. But I got used to it. I’ve definitely been more on point of getting the right plays out. So hopefully it’s that clear during the game. Rex [Grossman] has told me it’s not. But that’s why you have to know your offensive game plan, and I plan on knowing it.”
On establishing a comfort level with the wide receivers:
“Throwing with those guys over the summer helped. Being out there with them in OTA’s and minicamp helped. Being with them here helps. You can never say you’re there because you can always be more on point with them, but I think we have pretty good chemistry right now. If we had to go play tomorrow, I think we could do it and be effective. We don’t want to go play tomorrow. We just practiced hard today, but it’s getting better. I feel really good about the guys that I do have, the talent and things we’ll be able to do.”
On what part of his game he needs to improve most:
“It’s just working on everything. I’m not one to say, ‘I’m really bad at that.’ It’s not that I’m naïve or stubborn. I just don’t look at myself that way. Whether it’s working on picking up blitz pressure and knowing where to go with the ball or what to do in certain situations, I’m working on all those things: feet, drops, hitching up in the pocket, just getting completions and staying on the field. That’s the bottom line. If you constantly put yourself down and say, ‘Hey, I really need to work on that,’ then you’re going to think you’re bad at it, so I try not to talk that way. ”
On the physical toll of rushing the ball:
“When it comes to that, [Head] Coach [Mike Shanahan] promised me he’s not going to get me killed. We’re going to do whatever we have to do to help this team win and move the ball. The guys in this league are definitely a lot bigger and a lot faster, and I experienced that out here with my teammates. So we’ll be smart. Whatever we have to do, we’ll do it. But he said he’s not going to get me killed.”
On if he thinks about injuries along the offensive line:
“I try not to. I definitely keep tabs on those guys, try to talk to them and see what’s going on with them just for my mind’s sake. You want to have the best guys you can have out there, but we have a couple guys sitting out and the rest of the line’s stepping up and doing a good job. If you think you have a banged up line or bad offensive line, then you’ll play scared. The one thing I don’t want those guys to think is that I don’t trust them, so I definitely trust my offensive linemen, whoever’s out there with me.”
On if the quarterback runs in the Redskins’ offense are similar to what he did at Baylor:
“We did nakeds and boots at Baylor, and I throw on the run a bunch. But I think it’s more out of design here with the keeper game that Coach likes to run . It’s not really comparable, but I’ve had my fair share of throwing on the run. Being looked at as an athletic quarterback, that’s what everybody tries to do with you.”
On maintaining fundamentals when throwing on the run:
“It’s just ‘throw when you’re ready.’ If you have to rush a throw, a lot of times it will dive on you. Early in the first couple of practices, we all struggled with that. We definitely picked it up since then, and I know yesterday we did a really good one on the run. In the past few days, all of us have looked really good on keepers. I try not to just be a Debbie Downer and say, ‘Oh, my gosh, I have to do that.’ It’s just about practicing. If you make a bad throw one time, it’s a very slim chance to none that I’m going to go back and make the same bad throw.”
On throwing while running to the left:
“You’ve got to get your shoulders around. The problem is when you have Brian Orakpo running right after you and you can’t get you shoulders around so we worked on it all through our drills. We worked on when you can get it all the way around and get downfield and make that throw and then if you’ve got a guy like [Ryan] Kerrigan or Orakpo running after you and you have to run sideways, just how to position your body to be able to make that throw as well. We did a good job correcting it, so I thank the coaches for that.”
On rapper Wale attending practice:
“It’s cool. I like Wale. I met him, I think, at the draft. I got drafted by the Redskins, obviously, so he is a huge Redskins fan. Really cool guy. So for him to say that – it’s cool to have celebrities all coming out here supporting us. It definitely brings a lot of fans out. Hopefully we can get some more celebrity fans, aka [Kevin] Durant, out here.”
On if he has made strides since OTA’s:
“Day one of training camp – everyone is amped up, a lot of jitters. You want to come out and impress and I think we did some things good but we also did some things bad. The best way to describe it is we hit everything that was closely contested and we missed everything that was wide open. I think we made some strides since then, since day one, and I’m extremely proud of the offense. By no means are we satisfied, but we definitely have gotten better since day one.”
On chasing after a fumble recovery after the play ended:
“I don’t want to scare the fans and let them think that I’m going to go run down linebackers 30 yards down the field, but it happened, so whatever. I think it’s more of a thing for the team to see I don’t give up on the play. I didn’t know that there was a fumble. [Chris] Cooley probably would have been tackled before he fumbled anyway, but to see that guy running and them blocking for him – why give him a free touchdown? I ran him down because I could and pushed him out of bounds.”
On if the veterans have hazed him:
“Today [DeAngelo] Hall made me carry his pads because I said I break arm tackles so he said, ‘Here’s these pads. This will help you work on breaking those arm tackles.’ Other than that, I think we are going to start our rookie shows tonight. I plan on singing. Hopefully I don’t get booed off the stage, but we’ll see what happens. There’s a couple guys that have got some skits going on, but they’re not doing to much to us.”
On what song he will sing at the rookie show:
“I think I’m going to go with some Temptations, some ‘My Girl.’ Do that, hopefully get the whole room singing, then we’ll move on from there.”
On giving reporters a sample of his singing talent:
“I can’t do that. I don’t want to break any cameras or anything.”
On plays being more successful against other teams rather than his own defense:
“You hit that right on the head. In practice, the guys you go against everyday have seen this offense time and time again so, they kind of know and feel what is coming. The teams that have a week to practice for it, like the Saints, who have had all summer or however long they have been working on it to try and shut it down they will be better at it. But nobody will be good at it as Kerrigan and Orakpo. Those guys know it and it helps me get better so that I know no matter what look I get, whether I get the edge, don’t get the edge, I know how to run the play accordingly.”
On the hype and the excitement in and around in Washington D.C.:
“I didn’t expect the excitement. I certainly wasn’t surprised by it, but I didn’t expect it. I didn’t want to get drafted and have a whole city fall in love with me or say that’s just what I do. It’s definitely been an eye-opening experience. Like I said, from what I learned and had at Waco at Baylor, it is times 100 here in D.C. So, it’s definitely a great experience. Hopefully I can be the catalyst and get a lot of fans excited about this team.”
On his relationship with Defensive Backs Coach Raheem Morris:
“He definitely makes it fun. Raheem can get on you and he can talk some trash but when you get him, you get him. He tends to try to pick on me a little bit, so I scored those two touchdowns and threw the ball at him, almost threw the ball at him again. It’s just fun and games and off the field when you talk to him. He’s cool and he will try to help you be the best player you can be.”
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