Robert Griffin III said via text that new Washington Redskins quarterbacks coach Matt Cavanaugh has "a lot of experience, and I’m excited to add more knowledge to the bank." Griffin later said that Cavanaugh’s experience "can help the operation run more smoothly." No, he did not elaborate on that statement, but anytime you reduce the responsibilities of others involved, it makes life easier for all.
But Griffin was more expansive in an interview with Chris Russell on ESPN980 Wednesday night (with a hat tip to SBNation/Hogs Haven for transcribing the interview). Most of what Griffin had to say wasn’t noteworthy. But he definitely felt the injured ankle played a bigger factor in his season than was stated during the season.
Anyway, here are some of the highlights:
On how he can become a better quarterback: "The biggest thing for me is coming back healthy. Last year I wasn't healthy, and it sucked, there's no other way to say it other than that. When you get broken and dragged home in the second week of the season ... When you and your team have big things in mind ... It's just getting healthy, getting the mental break, getting a chance to spend time with family, and then formulate my plan going forward for this year, and go ahead and win games and be playing again at this time next year."
More on dealing with the ankle injury: "I had never suffered an ankle injury to that severity before, so I didn't know what to expect. And it just became harder and harder with the more games we lost, because you know how hard the guys work, and you want to get out there and help them win games.
"I could have sat out the rest of last year with as bad as the ankle was, but I felt like I could play, and I wanted to get out there and play with my guys and help them win games. And that didn't happen when I got back out there, and coach made a decision. And that was an unfortunate decision, and something we all had to go with, because that was coach's choice. But at the end of the day I got to go back out there with my guys, we had a little bit of fun, we beat Philadelphia and the season didn't close the way we wanted it to, but we all know what we can do and we gotta go out there and do it, and there's nothing that we can say that's going to change what happened last year."
On gaining consistency: "Also for me, it's to stay healthy so I don't have to fight back from these injuries, because I know as of late, I've made a habit of coming back from these injuries faster than other people, and that's not by design, that's because God has allowed me to do that.
"Stay healthy, go out and have fun and play the game, and the rest will fall in place. I think with the moves that we've made, that the coach and the GM have made, it will allow us to be in a better position to win games, and I think all the guys are excited about that. You never want to see guys go, coaches and players, but I know coaches have to do what's best for the team, and we all hope and pray we end up winning."