Redskins Press Conferences: Robert Griffin III 12-16-2014
Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III spoke to the media on Tuesday. Below is a transcript of the press conference.
On if he is starting to see the field and go through progressions better:
“Yeah, you watch the film, you learn from your mistakes, you see where you could have gotten the ball out in certain situations, and then you apply that to the next game, so looking forward to applying that to this game.”
On if his “confidence and swagger” returned against the Giants:
“Like I said, you’ve got to go out there and have fun and play the game the way you know how to play it. So that’s the only real focus and, you know, try to get a win.”
On if he saw a difference in himself when watching film:
“Yeah, like I said, you’ve got to go out there when your number is called and be ready to go and play with an enthusiasm and a fire in your belly and that’s what I did.”
On getting up after hits:
“I’m not going to overanalyze that kind of stuff, guys. I’ll get up, that’s all that matters. As long as you get up, it doesn’t matter how many times you get knocked down, as long as you get up you’re OK.”
On upon what he wants to build from the Giants game:
“Yeah, I mean I just want to get the ball into the wide receivers’ hands and let them do work and at times we did that in the game and got some big gains from it and that’s what we are looking to do. This defense that we are facing is real aggressive. They are going to challenge everything and our guys I think are up for the challenge.”
On if there is a difference in preparing for a team whose own offense plays at a fast pace:
“Yeah, you just want your defense to get them off the field so you can have more opportunities to score and that’s what we are looking forward to doing. When you run an up-tempo – I have experience running the up-tempo, you can be out there for a long time and have long sustained drives or you cannot have that – and we as an offense have to ready for either.”
On how he reacts when being labeled “injury-prone”:
“I don’t react at all because it’s not true.”
On if he thinks he has been a victim of bad luck:
“I don’t know. Everything happens for a reason, that’s just the way I look at it and God always has a plan. So anything that he allows to happen to you, it’s meant to be and he wants you to come out of it stronger.”
On if being named the starter this week is different:
“We’ve got two games left and we’ve got to make sure that as a team we go out there ready to play because anytime you have a chance to go out there and play this game… We are playing at a high level. These guys in there are the best in the world, so we have to go out there and show it. So I pray that the team is ready to go. I’ll make sure I get them ready to go and we’ll follow Jay’s lead.”
On how and why he arrived at the decision to not participate in social media in recent weeks:
“It’s similar to the press conference I had before the San Francisco game. It just felt like for me, anything that I was saying whether it was positive or negative, whether it was a positive retweet or anything like that, it was getting twisted and turned against me and against this team. So, I felt like I shouldn’t say very much. That’s why I came out and we had the ‘Focus on San Francisco’ thing and, you know, I think people got a kick out of that but it was by design because I feel like I can be free up here and talk to you guys but sometimes things get twisted and turned and it creates a distraction for the team. I didn’t want that to happen. So I will start participating in social media again after the season, but for right now I won’t say much.”
On if it means something to be able to eliminate Philadelphia from playoff consideration:
“I mean, you can say that and you can make arguments for that, but the way we are going to approach it is as another opportunity to go out there and get better and that’s what we have to do. We have to create some positive momentum going into the offseason and this is one of those games. They have a lot riding on the line in this game so we know they’re going to come ready and we have to make sure we match that intensity and be physical.”
On the balance between getting the ball out quickly and being reckless:
“Yeah, you’ve got to be smart with the ball. It’s all about managing the game and being a quarterback. So you go back, you watch the tape from the past game, you figure out the situations where you could have been more decisive. Then you apply that to this game with the game plan we have that way you have an approach towards every single play.”
On if there was a point where he had to “hit the reset button” in the past few weeks:
“Yeah, man, you can’t pay attention to that kind of stuff. Just the way I looked at it, it was the best thing for me, best thing for the team. Just with all the noise, I played a game and then I was out for seven weeks and there was still a ton of noise. Sometimes you don’t understand certain things and they don’t go the way you want them to go, but if I get criticized for retweeting about going to a charity event for a foundation, I mean, what else can you do? So I decided to just shut that down and not focus on that, and it’s not that I was focused on it before, I just felt like it would cut out a little bit of it for me and I’m sure there is still a lot of noise out there but I don’t ever see it.”
On if it is difficult to not interact publically as much as he would like:
“No, like I said, I have been off of it so that’s been relatively easy, but like I said I will get back into that in the offseason. I am a social person. I like to be open and talk to the fans and we’ll definitely get back to that, but for now I will just leave it alone.”
On at what point he felt like the perception of his actions could not be controlled:
“That goes way back to way before, but it’s nothing that we need to talk about up here or that we need to focus on, so I don’t really worry about that. The way things are perceived are always going to not be the way that they should be and that’s unfortunate.”
On what he learned last year down the stretch:
“Yeah, you know, you’ve got to have a spark. We’ve got to have a spark when you get on the field and we’ve got to make sure good things are happening early on in the game to make sure that everybody stays locked in. And, you know, I plan to be that spark and facilitate the ball to allow our other guys to make those plays.”
On how to take the quarterback position and run with it:
“Yeah, I haven’t played very many games this year, so my goal is to always go out there and be the guy, and that’s my only focus so I am not really worried about anything else.”
On where he is mentally:
“Oh, I’m in a great place. You know, God has blessed me with a lot of mental toughness to be able to deal with all this stuff. Just having the right people around me, the right people to talk to, it’s been very, very helpful going through this process. So I am in a great place mentally. I just want to play football.”
On if he changed his mind about the last play of the first half last week after reviewing it:
“No, it’s a touchdown.”
