On Wednesday, Dec. 4th, 2013, Redskins QB Robert Griffin III addressed the media after afternoon practice at Redskins Park in Ashburn, VA.
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On what went right in the first half against New York:
"We were in a rhythm. Everybody was doing their job, getting a lot of time to make good decisions. Guys were where they were supposed to be, making plays for me. That's what we've just got to do more of. It's not just about myself, like I said, it involves everybody. Early on we were really clicking and we've just got to find a way to channel that for a whole game and not just a half."
On setting expectations for the final four games:
"I think you always have something to play for. I think, no matter what, when we step out there on the field, our record doesn't matter. That doesn't come with you out there on the field. We have a job to take care of – to play a game that's a lot of fun. Losing's not fun. Everyone knows that, but at the end of the day, you still have to show up all ready to play and you just have to make a conscious effort to get better at whatever it is. When you look at yourself on tape and say, 'I need to get better at this,' make a conscious effort to get better at it over these next four games."
On if there are specific things he and the coaches intend to improve on in the final games:
"No, we still approach it the way we normally do – try to win the game. As a player, coaches can only coach so much. You have to be able to look at yourself and be hard on yourself, too. Those are the things that I'm probably not going to share but those are the things that I try to focus on myself to just get better each week."
On if he wishes the offense went no-huddle more often:
"We go out there and everybody's fighting together. At the end of the day, everyone can look back at it and say. 'You should have done this more, done that more.' I'm sure everybody has an opinion about it, but we have to go out there and try to execute as best as we possibly can with what we're given, so we can't come out here and question that kind of stuff."
On if the offense has been effective running the no-huddle:
"We have."
On if he has ever requested Offensive Coordinator Kyle Shanahan to run more no-huddle:
"[Laughter] Me and Kyle talk a lot, so we'll keep that private."
On if it takes a while to recover after a long no-huddle drive:
"I don't think so."
On if playing football is still fun when he is losing:
"Yeah, I think it is. It's just the attitude you have to bring to the game. We all play the game to win, but when you're losing and not having the year that we wanted to have as an organization, as a team, yeah, it makes it tough. It makes it hard on those guys in the locker room when you have to sit there and talk about [it]… We knew we're a better team than this and we're not going out there and showing it, so that makes it a lot harder, but it's still a fun game. You still get to go out there and do something that you've done your whole life and have fun doing it. I don't think people can see it from that perspective, but inside that locker room, you still have to look at it that way and still be able to smile when everybody wants you to have your head down and be frowning."
On the hardest part of this season and the best part of the season:
"The hardest part is just the way the season's gone for us and just knowing the type of players and the kind of guys that we have and the coaches that we have. It's been real disappointing for us. I'm sure it's disappointing for the fans and for everybody involved. The best thing about it is we still get a chance to strap it up every Sunday. Then after this year's over, after these next four games, we still get to look forward to an offseason and get to come out next year and do things the way that we know that we can."
On his reaction to public demand for organizational changes:
"I think everyone's going to have an opinion and it's an outside opinion. Only the people that are inside – us, coaches, anybody else in the organization – knows what goes on around here. Whenever you have a year like we're having, sitting at 3-9 when we had higher hopes and higher expectations, people are going to try to sink the ship. Our job is not to focus on that stuff, so I personally just focus on Kansas City."
On his opinion of the coaches and their future:
"I think these guys have a great future. I love having them here and that's all I can say. We're focused on Kansas City, they're focused on Kansas City and that's all we can control."
On how his relationship with Executive Vice President/Head Coach Mike Shanahan has evolved:
"I think whenever you have competitors like us, losing can be tough. But at the end of the day, just like when I came in here, me, Coach, Kyle, all the rest of the coaches and all the rest of the players, we all want to win. That's a winning recipe whether you're doing it on the field or not. So that's the way I look at it. We're all competitors. We all get heated at times, but at the end of the day, we all want to win."
On how much trust he has developed with the coaches:
"As much as it can develop in a year-and-a-half, two-year span. I haven't spent a lot of time here, obviously. I haven't spent a lot of time in the league. It takes time to build that trust over time with a coach anytime."
On New York Giants safety Antrel Rolle's comments that he is taking too many brutal hits:
"Antrel, everyone can see it a little bit. I think I've done a better job myself limiting the hits on myself out in the open and stuff like that. There's still some times when I take some hits. It's football. It's a physical sport. You don't want to take as many hits as I have this year, but you try to avoid them when you can and when you can't, you've just got to get up."
On if he had second thoughts on attempting to throw a block:
"No second thoughts. I just knew you guys were going to bring that up [laughter]. I've led-blocked before, but it was just a miscommunication between me, [offensive tackle] Trent [Williams] and the field. Trent slipped a little bit and that's why Antrel got through there. I took the block for Al [wide receiver Aldrick Robinson]. I'll take that hit [laughter]."
On how many people are giving him advice, such as his private quarterback coach Terry Shea, and how he processes the information:
"I don't listen to too much of the outside. Coach Shea is a guy that helped me coming into the league, so I do listen to Coach Shea. He's had a lot of coaching experience. He's seen a lot, done a lot. I appreciate everything he's done for me helping me with my game coming into the league and just advice now. So, yeah, I do listen to Coach Shea, but a lot of the other outside stuff you can't listen to. There are certain people who contact you personally and, yeah, you listen to those guys. But when it comes to people out there talking, you just don't listen to it."
On why the offense has struggled to make big plays in the passing game:
"We're just not making big plays. Aside from that, that's not something to come up here and address. We know on the inside what we have to do to get those big plays. It just comes down to execution."*
On if he wonders how he went from giving words of encouragement to fellow players last year to receiving it from his opponents this season:
"No, I don't. You be who you are. Last year when we had that victory over the Cowboys the last game of the year, I went to [Dallas Cowboys quarterback] Tony [Romo]. That's not for me to put that on tape. I just forgot I was mic'd up. It's what you do as players. Players in this game understand what we go through, whether we're on different teams or not. [New York Giants defensive end Justin] Tuck did have some kind things to say to me and I appreciated it. We're all competitors out there. We all want to win. They're our rival, but at the end of the day, I think playerscan kind of understand what we each go through."
On defenses trying to take away the run:
"Every defense's plan is to make you one-dimensional, whether that's running the ball or throwing the ball. If we're not running the ball effectively, we have to throw it effectively and I think we did throw it effectively. We just didn't get the big plays that we wanted that we're used to getting or people point to from last year. That's just something that we have to fix and it's really just scheming up and execution. That's basically the bottom line. It's not that they're not there. We've just got to make plays."
On if he wishes he could dwell in the middle ground of public opinion rather than polar highs and lows:
"I think other guys can speak to how I've handled it better than I could. I don't think it would be fair for me to comment on how I've handled something. But you still have to enjoy the journey. People are going to try to pick you apart. That's just the nature of this world, the nature of our society. That doesn't make it right, but it's going to happen and you have to be able to be secure with who you are and not change who you are no matter what's going on. Last year was great and this year hasn't been great, but you have to be able to learn from years like this. I've taken it all on – head on – and I feel like I am learning, learning a lot. You just appreciate these moments like this because God always has a plan and you've just got to be ready to go with whatever he's got going for you and this year it's this. He's trying to show me something, trying to show us something. We've got to be able to see it, learn from it and move on."
On the reception he gets when out in public:
"Out in public, no one says anything negative at all. It's mostly pictures and autographs and stuff like that, just like before. I never went out much anyway. I get to stay at home, relax with my family, play with my dog and live life."
On the biggest misconception about the Redskins right now:
"Just the fragmented team. We're not. We're not a fragmented team. We're all sticking together. Everybody understands what we've got to do these next four games and that's the bottom line. You know, just all the false stories that keep coming out. It's just one thing after another, day after day. Guys still have to continue to change the channel and not listen to any of that stuff and block it out."
On what he sees from Kansas City's defense:
"A very talented defense. [It's] going to be a challenge, but you've got to be willing to accept the challenge. They're going to do some things up front that can be difficult and we going to have to counterpunch and just be ready for anything. They've got some talented players on the defense and they can do a lot of different things."
On if there is one player that stands out on Kansas City's defense:
"I'm not going to insult any of those guys. No added ammunition from me for them, so all of them. Dontari Poe – I came out with Dontari. He's from Memphis and we trained together. He's a force to be reckoned with. [Tamba] Hali and all those guys, they're legit, so you just accept that challenge and know that when you step on the field, you've got to earn it."
On if he takes calls for quarterback Kirk Cousins to replace him personally:*
"I don't take any offense to that. That's just outsiders looking in that just don't understand the game of football. When it comes to a time like this, it's easy for guys to check out. I think it would be real cowardly of me to check out and say, 'Hey, I don't want to play these next four games.' It's not who I am. It's not who any competitive football player is. You want to play, so we're going to finish out the year and you take what's happened this year, being 3-9, and you face it. That's why I come up here every single week. I face you guys because this is what you have to do. You have to do the same thing no matter whether you're winning or losing and we've got four games and I'm going to give it my all these four games and I know those guys will, too."
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