Quarterback Robert Griffin III – who has thrown for 8,097 yards and 40 touchdowns with eight rushing touchdowns in his three-year career – will return to the Redskins in 2016, the team announced today.*

The Washington Redskins will pick up up the fifth-year option for quarterback Robert Griffin III, officially keeping him with the team through the 2016 season, general manager Scot McCloughan announced today.

Griffin III, 25, was the Redskins' first round (second-overall) pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, and made an immediate impact his first season in the burgundy and gold, capturing the AP's Offensive Rookie of the Year award and leading the team to its first NFC East title since 1999.

In that 2012 season, Griffin III earned his first-career Pro Bowl selection, while also establishing NFL rookie records for passer rating (102.4), percentage of passes intercepted (1.27) and rushing yards by a quarterback (815).

Griffin III, who underwent reconstructive surgery on a torn right ACL following the 2012 season, started and played in the first 13 games in 2013, completing 60.1 percent of his passes while throwing 16 touchdowns. That year, he became the fifth quarterback in NFL history to post 3,000 passing yards in each of his first two NFL seasons.

Griffin III's 2014 season was derailed early after suffering a dislocated left ankle in the first quarter of the team's Week 2 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars. He returned seven weeks later and would play in nine total games, starting seven, with 1,694 passing yards and four touchdowns.

In February, Redskins head coach Jay Gruden named Griffin III the team’s starting quarterback heading into offseason workouts, giving the former Baylor product a vote of confidence with the 2015 season on the horizon.

"I think just coming back with more knowledge of the system, more confidence of where he's supposed to throw, getting the ball out of his hands on time," Gruden said about the steps Griffin III could take this offseason. "We'll work with his footwork and his accuracy, and all that good stuff. The big thing is decision making: where to go with the ball and why, and this will help his decisiveness."

With another offseason already underway – and another opportunity to get a better handle on Gruden and offensive coordinator Sean McVay's playbook – Griffin III said he has trust in himself and his teammates to get the job done in 2015 and beyond.

"It's not about talking about it; It's about being about it," he said in a recent interview with Redskins.com TV's Larry Michael. "That's what my goal is this entire offseason. You got to talk small, play big, take care of the little things for the big things and everything will fall into place."

Individually, Griffin III said he's been focused on "doing the ordinary so I can be extraordinary."

"I look forward to making the offense more tailored to what I do well or what we do well as a team – offensive line, running backs and receivers," he said. "That's what it's supposed to be. It's supposed to complement what we do well. That's what we're going to get to -- find our identity and stick to that."

RELATED LINKS:-- Robert Griffin III: ‘We’re Going To Put The Work In’* *-- Joe Theismann To Robert Griffin III: ‘Focus On What You Do’

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