It would be a tough sell to suggest that the ups and downs that the 3-6 Washington Redskins have endured the first half of their 2014 season have necessarily helped the team but it’s worth considering. The old adage that: “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” may very well hold true when it comes to this football club this season thanks, in part, because of the way their head coach has responded to recent events.
That being said, yesterday the media met with Redskins’ quarterback Robert Griffin, III for a little over ten minutes. In that short amount of time, the things he said and the way he said it — combined with things that coaches and other players have recently said — indicate that the team might have come to a crossroad that they might actually traverse unharmed, intact and better off for it. That is, if they choose to.
This press conference was the last for now as the team’s bye week has begun and plenty was said. Again, it was what was said and the way it was delivered that spoke volumes. The inflection in Griffin’s voice, the look in his eye… all pointed towards a young man who has become a leader on a team that is unified and, more importantly, on the same page as their coach.
Before moving on, please recall the report that recently came out by a national reporter which alleged that Griffin had lost the locker room and that this was assumed because of the way his teammates behaved during an interview session with reporters. Recall as well, that this has been disputed by several of the media members that were present during that session. The ruckus made by the players had nothing to do with any disrespect for the quarterback. Also, many players have negated the allegation in subsequent conversations.
One last thing to bear in mind please… parts of the aforementioned report alleged that there are people inside the Redskins’ organization that believe owner Dan Snyder and President/General Manager Bruce Allen gave the order to start Griffin in this past weekend’s game against the Minnesota Vikings, usurping the control of head coach Jay Gruden.
In a nutshell, Gruden wasn’t happy about either report and called the one about Griffin losing the locker room “amateurish”, “fiction” and “small-time reporting” during the Vikings’ game post-game press conference. But what is even more to the point is what he said when asked how he would handle things like the leak that promoted the idea that he was being pressured to start RGIII last Sunday against his will.
“Well, you try to tell your team the very first day that what goes on in here stays in here, and you don’t know if there’s leaks or what’s happening,” the coach said on Monday. “But the fact of the matter is, whatever people want to write about, it’s their right to write whatever they want. But we’ve just got to make sure that we stay together and don’t pick sides and believe everything that we read because some of those reports are just false — they’re just outright false. We just can’t let them get to us. We have a young team; we have some fragile egos here. These guys are young guys trying their best and they read in the paper that nobody likes them and they’re ‘alienated’ and ‘blahsy blahsy.’ As a football player, as an NFL football player playing here, you have to expect it. And I’ve said all along that a quarterback’s number one trait that he has to have — or any football player’s trait that he has to have — is you’ve got to be thick-skinned. You have to be tough-minded, tough-willed, and accept the good and the bad equally. So we just can’t let that get to us. The big thing is we can’t let anything tear the locker room apart. We’ve got to stick together and I think our guys have done that so far.”
It is this last statement by the coach that could be a catalyst to a major turnaround by this team, similar to the one that happened in 2012 when, also at 3-6, the Redskins went on to win their last seven games and subsequently the NFC East division. At that time, the players rallied together because of the statement made by then-head coach Mike Shanahan that the rest of the season would be a player evaluation period. The players took what he’d said and used it as motivation.
The way Griffin spoke yesterday, combined with the things other players have said over the last week or two, indicates that the same type of thing that happened in 2012 might very well be going on right now. The biggest difference is that they are doing it along with their coach as opposed to doing it in spite of him. Perhaps Gruden has taken the “stick together” mentality straight to the players and they have embraced it.
With that said, to follow are the couple of things that Griffin said today that were notable and indicated an “us against them” attitude towards anyone not employed by the Redskins organization.
In the very first question, he was asked — without any noticeable malice, mind you — what his focus would be during the bye week.
His answer:
“I’m going to focus on spending time with my wife, get some time away from the game and get back ready to go on a roll when we get back. Aside from that, our focus is always winning. Every day we want to get better in some way or another. But I’m not going to sit up here and tell you what I’m going to do.”
Again, in that statement, it wasn’t so much the words he said as it was the inflection in his voice and the look in his eye when he said it. His response had an “I’m finished with you people” air to it.
Later in the press conference — which, by the way, took place in the media interview room at Redskins Park as opposed to the locker room — he again revealed a “Redskins vs. the outside world” state of mind:
“Yea, I think we did a lot of good things, just like coach said” Griffin answered in response to a question about what he had taken away from the Vikings game film. “We did move the ball well, we did put points on the board, we just didn’t put enough on the board to win. That’s what it comes down to at the end of the day. For me personally, like I said, I’m not going to self-critique myself… I’ve learned from that. I’m not going to do that in front of you guys.”
And then, a few questions later:
“It was time,” Griffin said, responding to a question regarding the benefits of the decision to play him prior to the bye week. “We can’t base our decisions off of outside opinions. Coach said I was ready, I felt I was ready, the doctors said I was ready. The trainers thought I was ready at the [Dallas] Cowboys game but we did the right thing. We waited a week. For us to push that off until after the bye just because of outside opinion, I think, is a disservice to this team because you always want to have the best opportunity to win each week and it was time to get back out there.”
As the interview went on, Griffin seemed to get a little less defensive and returned to more of the affable guy the media is used to seeing. But there was no question that before that, he was making a statement about how he — and probably the team as a whole — feel about some of the things that have been written recently.
This “us against the world” attitude is not a bad thing and could be a turning point in the season.
The apparent chip on the Redskins player’s shoulders showed up just before the Dallas game and it has grown even bigger since then. If this body called the Washington Redskins really does have a chip on its shoulder, this additional growth could be helpful during this upcoming seven-game stretch. They are going to have difficult hurdles to jump; hurdles called the San Francisco 49ers, the Indianapolis Colts AND three more division games (New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys). They also have the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the St. Louis Rams — always dangerous opponents — sprinkled in those remaining games.
If the “us versus them” attitude becomes an intangible that can help Washington wins games, then good. A united locker room is better than a divided one any day of the week, no matter how or why it comes to pass.
“Someday, that’ll stop,” Griffin said about the leaks and reports to Tom Pelissero recently, “I truly believe that. I believe someday the negativity will stop and people will stop trying to tear us down from the outside in and make it look like it’s coming from the inside out. I believe that. I believe God has a plan and we’ll make it work.”
Multiple players have insisted that they are behind whatever quarterback is under center but even more have agreed that Griffin is THE Redskins starting quarterback. That is a good sign of the team being “all in this thing together” as running back Alfred Morris said recently.
Redskins teammates might be just as unified now (or more) than they were after that fateful day back in November of 2012 when Shanahan made the crucial statement that, “Now you’re playing to see who obviously is going to be on your football team for years to come. Now we get a chance to evaluate players and see where we’re at.”
In 2012, Redskins Nation witnessed what can happen when 53 football players decide that they are all on the same page. Magic? Perhaps. A more realistic term might be “effective” or “potent” in describing the result on the field.
Whatever the reason, the Washington Redskins — as a team — might have arrived at a crossroad that pits them against the world thanks to their head coach. Gruden is smart, refreshingly honest, qualified and respected by his team. If they are ready to hit this crossroad in a unified manner, then well… the results could surprise many.
“When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.” – Winston S. Churchill
Hail.