On Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2013, Redskins QB Robert Griffin III addressed the media after afternoon practice at Redskins Park in Ashburn, VA.

. On how close team is to turning a corner:
"I think we're real close. We can see it on the tape, there is a lot of good things on the tape. No one wants to be sitting here 0-3. That's not a good thing for us. It's not who we are as a team."
 
On if team still has its swagger:
"I think the swagger you are talking about, it's hard to have that swagger sitting at 0-3, but I don't think the team has lost its sense of confidence. We know how close we are. We know we can turn it around. We're built to get out of this hole just like we were last year."
 
On outside scrutiny:
"With anything anybody else says, that's just stuff you have to ignore."
 
On how the offense has improved:
"As an offense, I think we are better on third down. We had a lot more execution. I thought everybody played a lot better. We just didn't get the victory, and that's what matters at the end of the day. You have got to win and we didn't do enough to win the game. We did enough to stay in the game, but not enough to win and I think that's a key focus for us. We just have got to make the plays that are there and if it's not there, try to do something and make a positive play. So, from that standpoint, I thought we all did a lot better."
 
On why team was more successful on third down:
"Like I said, I think it was just better execution. You have got to make the throw. You have got to make the catch. We've got to pick up the blitz. We just had a lot of high points on third down that were good for us to where it was a normal third down conversion rate, for us at least. You just have got to continue that execution and realize that it takes 11 guys on offense and everybody is taking responsibility."
 
On if he would change how his offseason was promoted publicly:
"I don't think we would have. The fact of the matter is it comes with the territory of being a quarterback in the NFL. With you guys, when we don't have success, there is going to be criticism. You've got to be able to stand tall, look the criticism in the face, look that adversity in the face, and let it know that you're not going anywhere, and that's what this team has to do and that's what we're going to do. I don't think that's necessarily an issue. I think if you have success; look at a guy like [Denver Broncos quarterback] Peyton Manning, who is a great quarterback, a guy that you look up to, he's done a lot of great things in this league. He has a documentary and he's going off this year and no one criticizes that. It goes with the territory. If you struggle a little bit coming out of the gates, everyone is going to look at that and criticize it and you just have got to be able to face that."
 
On if the number of snaps he has taken under center is related to taking stress off of his knee:
"I don't think that's related at all. I think it's just a matter of what the game plan is that week, whether under center or in the shotgun."
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On if he has worked on sliding in practice:
"The problem is I'm not a great slider, should I say. I know how to slide, but I don't know how to baseball slide, and I think that's what they're talking about. But there is just more of an emphasis on sliding feet-first as opposed to going forward since that rule is in place. It protects you as a quarterback going backwards, going feet-first, so that's what you've got to do, so just make a mental note of that and try to slide feet-first."
 
On avoiding falling behind in the first half of games:
"We talked about the first two games enough, I think, over the past couple of weeks. The past game we played against Detroit, we weren't in a hole going into the second half. We were down three. I think we put ourselves in position to win the game and we just didn't do it, so I think that's a positive to build off of. You want to be leading at halftime, you don't want to be in a hole, and that's what our focus is going against Oakland. We have got to make sure we're in a position to win the game."
 
On if the offense knows its personality yet and if not knowing it has contributed to struggles:
"I think it's more so us putting ourselves in bad situations, whether it be turnovers or penalties, getting in bad down and distances, it kind of makes you get away from some of the things you normally would do. And as long as we can eliminate those kind of things, then I think you'll see that personality come back out and we'll be able to get [running back] Alfred [Morris] some more touches, which I think he needs. He needs more touches, and we'll get those to him by staying out of those bad down and distances… Each year is a little bit different. No teams are ever the same, even though we had a lot of guys returning, you have to go with what you have that year and what defenses are playing against you that year and how they're playing against you that year, so it's just something you have got to figure out on the fly."
 
On if he saw the impact of quarterback pulls on the Lions defense:
"Yeah, I mean, getting outside of the pocket, definitely defensive coordinators don't want that from a quarterback who can move a little bit. They want to keep you concealed inside the pocket, so we moved the pocket a little bit. I kept the ball on one of the zone-reads, and it does affect the defense. Safeties come up faster, corners play a little bit different, linebackers play a little bit different. It opened up holes for us down the field, so it's something we'd definitely like to do and something we have got to do more of."
 
On if he practices sliding in practice:
"No. I did in training camp and everything… You basically run up to a defender and you slide [laughter]. It's easier to slide with football pants on. The slickness of the pants, I know I'm going a little too deep here, but the slickness of the pants helps you slide. When you have shorts on and stuff like that, it's a little less conducive to sliding on the practice field, but I have."
 
On if he would consider consulting a professional baseball player on sliding:
"I mean, if [Washington Nationals outfielder] Bryce [Harper] wants to do that I'm definitely up for that. Bryce, we can do that if you want to, buddy."
 
On how trying this start has been on him personally:
"It's adversity and it is one of the more trying things you have to go through, but you have to know where your faith is, and I have a lot of faith in this football team, a lot of faith in my teammates, coaches, faith in God and he's going to bring us through this and all we have to do is do our part. As long as we show up here every day with the right attitude… I mean, no one is going to feel sorry for us in the NFL, no one is going to come pat us on the back and say, 'Hey, here is a win.' We have to go out and take it, so all of that stuff being said, I think everybody has the right attitude. You have to go out and enjoy life. We want to start winning, and it starts this week against Oakland so we go into this bye week with a good feeling and come out of it ready to go on a tear."
 
On if the attention on him takes away from the fun of playing the game:
"It's part of the process. It's part of being a quarterback in the NFL. Things are going to happen. You're going to have to deal with the scrutiny and be able to stare it in the face and overcome it. That's just what it is. There's nothing else to say about that. You still try to go out and have the fun that you know how to have playing the game that you love."
 
On throwing the ball 50 times against the Lions:
"I don't think anyone would expect us to throw the ball over 40 times the first three games of the season. It's not anything I'm not comfortable with. I just know a lot of times when you get into that range of throwing the ball, it's not conducive to winning, and we did that to ourselves. We got down and we had to throw that many times in those first couple of games. If you throw 50 times and it's just part of the game plan then that's great, but we have to make sure we limit that and really work our game plan all the way through the game."
 
On advice he has received from his father since the beginning of the season:
"You just have got to keep playing. Have fun. Don't look at anything, and that's what you have got to do. Whether it's good or bad, you have got to make sure you block all of that stuff out. Don't read what people are saying and move on. That's the advice that he's given me, and just keep pushing forward. Fight on, because that's the only thing that we know how to do, we know how to keep fighting."
 
On balancing the experience of last year's winning streak without relying on it happening again:
"I think the line you draw is not to relax. Don't look at it as, 'Hey, we did this last year. We can get out of this hole.' You look to that as a sense of confidence like, 'We know what this team is made of. We know what we can do.' But you don't look at that and relax and say, 'Hey, we can just keep on losing, it will be all gravy.' That's not the way you approach it. You use that as confidence that you can build on toward the next week and don't lose that swagger that we have. I think the team is ready. Everybody is disappointed in the way that we've played and the only thing we can do is change that on Sundays. I can't change it up here. I can't tell you guys any secrets about what is going to happen or how we're going to do it. We just have got to go do it."
 
On the media coverage he receives and his message to his teammates prior to the Philadelphia game that the game was about the whole team:
"I always try to make sure my teammates understand that, being a quarterback in this league, there is always going to be a lot of attention on you as a player. I want them to know that I don't think that way. I know that it's not all about me. The criticism is going to come to me. When we play well, the praise is going to come to the quarterback. That's just how it is. I want them to know that I don't believe that. I know it's not all me. I know it's about them and about what we can do to win games, so that's why I said that. Everybody wanted to paint that Monday night game as my comeback and, yeah it's the first game back, but I wanted them to know that it wasn't just about me, it's about us going out there and winning, and that's what we have got to get back to. We have got to get back to us winning football games and that's what we have got to do against Oakland."
 
On how the attention he receives affects his teammates:
"I think sometimes, especially in training camp when we had to deal with the fans and everything out there at practice, a lot of those guys enjoy it because I'm the one out there signing autographs for an hour after practice every day and they get to go in and do whatever they want to do. They have fun with it and they poke and prod at you but it's all in fun. I don't know if it bothers them at all, but I just want them to know that I don't believe that. I don't believe what everyone else is out there saying, that it's all me, all me, that it's about us."
 
On his confidence in his ability to make game-breaking plays:
"You just have got to believe in yourself. You have got to trust your preparation. I can't say it enough times. Throughout every week you watch the film. You break it down. You know your plays. You know your reads. You know everything and you have got to go out there and play. If things don't go your way on one play, you have got to move on and clear it, and that's what you have to do. You have to make the plays that are out there and then when it comes to playmaking ability, you just have got to go out there with a clear conscience every play and make the best play you can."
 
On if he has a relationship with Oakland Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor and his play so far this season:
"Me and T.P., we know each other. I don't know if you'd say we are best friends or anything like that but we know each other. We got to see each other grow, him at Ohio State and me at Baylor. I'm glad he got a shot there in Oakland, but like I said earlier today, once we step on that field, it's not about me and him. It's about us versus the Raiders and that's what we've got to do."
 
On if media reports that he told the coaches he wanted to run less read option are true:*
"It's not true."

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