Robert Griffin III is NFL Rookie of the Week Again
For the third time in six weeks, the NFL has named Redskins QB Robert Griffin III the rookie of the week. Not surprising given his stellar performance against the Vikings. RGIII threw for over 180 yards and a TD while he also ran for 139 yards including a 76 yard TD dash that iced the Redskins win over Minnesota.
Overall, RGIII is second overall in rushing TDs with 6 on the season, 1 behind RB Arian Foster. He is 15th overall into total rushing yards with 379 yards. Amazing for a rookie quarterback. Passing wise, RGIII leads the NFL compiling 70.2% of his passes. He is third overall in QB rating with 100.9, behind only Aaron Rodgers and Peyton Manning. Not bad company.
Griffin had a chat with CBS Sports. On facing his first NFC East rival, Griffin expect different looks from the Gaints,
"I expect to see something different every week. It's just the nature of different types of plays that we run and different teams are going to try to do different things --whether it's soft coverage, blitz, man coverage, one-high, two-high, it doesn't matter. I'm expecting something different, but it's not like I can say, ‘Hey, they're going to do this, this week.' I'm not going to make it a guessing game. Whenever we get out there on the field and we can line up with them and see what they're doing, that's when we'll figure it out. Right now, we'll go with what's on the tape and when they throw a curveball at you, you just have to be ready to adjust."
The maturity of Griffin is evident. He understands his role and importance to this team. He knows he has to better protect himself.
"I don't think my mentality has changed as far as the aggressiveness goes, but I told the team the following Wednesday, last week, that I was going to do a better job of protecting myself in those situations like the one against Atlanta. I can't leave them hanging; this is my team, I'm the leader of this team and I have to make sure I'm out there to help them win. I was proud of that fact, but it doesn't change the mentality. It's still aggressive, just being smart and knowing that seven yards on first down is good as long as you're getting down and staying safe. You can get those extra yards when it's needed in crunch time."
It is important to keep in mind this kid is a rookie. Yet his understanding of his role and imporance to the team is testament of his mental maturity.
RGIII spells out what he believes his his greatest accomplishment.
"Just being patient. Taking what the defenses are giving us and just taking each game as its own. We're doing different things every game. We've got to see how different teams respond to that. So for us, it's about making sure we execute what we went to the field to do. We've done a good job of that in our other games, even though we haven't won all of them. I think we've grown as a team and that's good."
Go read the whole thing.
