NBC on Yahoo SportsGruden can be patient with RG3 as long as he avoids 'catastrophic decisions'
Jay Gruden knows he has to be patient with the development of Robert Griffin III. But the head coach knows he can’t be too patient due to the position that Griffin plays.
“With every young player you have to have some patience but you also have to understand that position, there’s a lot more responsibility on his shoulders,” said Gruden. “He has to make a great decision, taking the ball from center, handing it off, getting us in the right run, the right protection, throwing to the right guy on each pattern. So he’s got a lot more responsibility than the average guy. So having patience with them is maybe just a little less than the normal position.”
In other words, yes, Griffin can have time to develop. But if he takes too long to develop, the holds back the development of the whole team, both the individuals and the team as a whole.
Gruden indicated that he could live without some really great plays by Griffin for the time being as long as he avoids the really bad plays.
“We’ll just have to be patient with him, like you said, and take the good with the bad from time to time but just really try to stay away from negative plays and the catastrophic decisions,” he said. “If he throws it away when he’s supposed to throw it away, take a sack when he’s supposed to take a sack, keep two hands on the ball when he’s supposed to keep two hands on the ball. We’ve said all along that punting is OK, the defense we’re going to play hopefully will be sound enough that punting is OK, field position is OK, we just move on.”
By and large, Griffin has been able to stay away from the “catastrophic decisions” in his first two years in the league. But if he gets impatient, or senses impatience from others in the organization, he could press and bad things will follow.
