Redskins: Majoring in the Option Could Result in Major Injury – Enough Concern by OC? by Diane Chesebrough

It is well-documented that Washington Redskins’ quarterback Robert Griffin, III has taken too many hits so far this season. While both the rookie and his head coach sound assertive in addressing the issue – and we all know that there are several reasons for the numerous hits – based on things said earlier this week, one could get the sense that Washington’s offensive coordinator isn’t quite as worried about it as he possibly should be. If this is, in fact, the case, Redskins fans had better hope that this lack of concern doesn’t manifest itself in a serious injury to Washington’s new star.

There were at least 25 times that Griffin went to the ground in last week’s loss against the Cincinnati Bengals. With the free-for-all attitude the Bengals defensive players took on once the replacement refs lost control of the game, some of those hits were especially vicious. Several times, a collective sigh of relief swept through the stadium when RGIII finally got up after spending more time than was acceptable on the ground. The man is not scared to get hit and, while it’s commendable, maybe it’s not necessarily such a good thing.

“One is too many, to be honest,” Griffin said in his post-game press conference. “I’m not trying to be funny. As a quarterback, you’re a stationary target most of the time. Even when you’re a mobile QB, the teams are still going to come after you even more because they feel like if they get a sack on a mobile quarterback, it counts as more. That’s just their mindset when they go into the game. Like I said, one is too many, but the one thing I won’t do personally is quit or play scared. I’ve never played scared in my life so it doesn’t matter how many times I get hit. I’m going to continue to get back up. Even if they have to cart me off the field, I’m going to get off that cart and walk away.”

The people running the team that stand to benefit greatly from Robert’s abilities and talents, are the also the ones who need to take some responsibility for limiting the hits he takes – through play-calling and the coaching.

Washington’s Head coach Mike Shanahan admitted this week that Griffin had been hit too much and said he had talked to him about how to help himself. He discussed Griffin making sure both defensive players and referees knew that he no longer had the ball in his hands in order to decrease the chances for being hit. While there are things Robert can do to keep defensive players at bay, we know that he is a fierce competitor and will also do whatever is necessary to make the play work. He’ll sell the fake to the best of his ability and – whether it’s a draw, bootleg or whatever – it’s hard to imagine him completing his role in the play and then running toward the sidelines waving his hands in the air. He is the one who took those hits, however, and is not likely to forget them any time soon.

“On some of the option plays, just make it more clear to the refs (or whatever refs we have) that I don’t have the ball because then they can’t hit me,” Griffin said on Wednesday when asked how he can decrease the number of hits he takes. “But I guess if I don’t come out with my hands up, then they think I have the ball and, legally, they can hit me. So just make it clear to them I don’t have the ball and then if I do get one of those shots, we get 15 yards.”

“If you take some of those shots in the face, you’ll learn real fast,” he said a little later. “I thought they were not legal hits but Coach informed me that technically they can hit me. Now, they’re not supposed to hit me in the head but they can hit me if I’m carrying out the fake. Even on keepers, they can hit you if you’re carrying out your fake. I didn’t know that so I guess I’ll just be running with my arms up a lot more, letting them know, ‘Hey, I don’t have the ball. Please hit me if you want to get a 15-yard [penalty].”

So here are Shanahan-the-head-coach and Griffin-his-quarterback with a plan to keep the latter from being hit so much. Enter the offensive coordinator and his part in the whole process. Kyle Shanahan weighed in on the subject and, after his press conference on Thursday, there might be reason to remain concerned about Griffin’s health as the Redskins take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this Sunday.

“When something is working, it’s going to be really hard to stop doing it”, the younger Shanahan said during his weekly meeting with the media. “When we brought [wide receiver Brandon] Banks in there, it was working. We’re going to do stuff until a defense stops it. When I say ‘not major in it’…I think when you look at Denver last year, I think they kind of majored in it. They were running the ball about 55 times a game, no matter what the down and distance is. When that’s part of your offense – I think it will always be a part of our offense – so is the rest of what we do. I’d say it’s a third of it, just to give you a number. It will always be a part of it but it’s not your bread and butter.”

It has to be noted that, even though its quarterback was taking a beating, the Redskins’ offense was moving the chains because that same quarterback was making plays. This is a dilemma. It’s a good one to have… i.e., a QB that can make big plays… but it’s still a problem because he opens himself up to hits – albeit legal – at the end of those plays.

Kyle Shanahan does admit that his quarterback is going down too much and that he has some responsibility in keeping it from happening. But there’s just something about the way he worded things that gives the impression he’s not taking as much responsibility for it as he should.

“You’ve just got to keep working on it,” he also said. “I think Robert is used to it. He has the most experience out of all of us in running the option. I think the more he does it, he’ll start to get a feel for the different speeds of the game. He’s used to handing it off and still being able to attack and act like he has the ball and still be able to get out of the way of those d[efensive] ends – which I think he did a decent job of in the game, but a few times they got him. I think the more experience he gets with that in NFL games, with the speed of the game, he’ll get used to it. When he can’t really carry out the fake, he has to show that he doesn’t have the ball. Once you show you don’t have the ball, you can’t get hit.”

And then,

“It’s always on both of us. It’s my job to help show him and help teach him – not that I can really teach him how to run it. I can help show him tapes, show him where we think he could avoid some hits. He sees that. We look at it together. We try to put it together for him. That’s our goal. We want to keep him healthy, yet we still want him to compete like he does. We want to try to win the games. We definitely don’t want to get him hurt. The more we can help him with that…He’s a competitive guy, so you never know what’s going to happen in the game, but we have to try to keep him healthy.”

It’s not that keepers or play-action should be removed from the play book. They are a huge part of the success Washington has had moving the ball. But of all of the people involved in this part of the scheme – the part that needs to be addressed so that Griffin can stay healthy for the remaining 13 games of the season – Kyle Shanahan appears to be the least concerned about it. I would think that keeping his quarterback up and healthy would be his number one long-term goal. This team has the potential to be a force in this league for the next ten years with RGIII as their quarterback. Is there something so pressing about this 2012 season that Shanahan-the-coordinator isn’t willing to change the play-calling so that Griffin isn’t getting hit so much?

The first-round draft pick’s teammates certainly are disturbed by it. Fortunately, some of them could have a significant impact on the field and therefore on keeping their teammate vertical.

“A couple of those times he’s laying as crooked as a question mark on the ground, and you’re like: ‘He’s not moving,’” offensive guard Kory Lichtensteiger said this week. “You’re wondering what’s going on, and then he slowly peels himself back up… …But you don’t like to see your quarterback, especially a guy that is carrying the load that he is, taking those hits.”

Running back Alfred Morris was extremely upset about the amount of hits Griffin took but the concern didn’t stop on the offensive side of the ball. Even some of the defensive players weighed in. No one has said this specifically but, perhaps they have some of the same concerns I have.

“He’s talented so right now the coaching staff will take advantage of his talent and the pressure it puts on a defense.” Pro Bowl linebacker London Fletcher said. “You have to prepare for him, stop him, try to figure out the read when he has the ball and when he gives it to the running back. It’s a part of our offense and it’s been successful for us.”

I hope that Kyle Shanahan is as concerned with the hits Griffin has taken as his father and the players are.  Otherwise, Rex Grossman and/or Kirk Cousins are going to be seeing time in the pocket before the bye week arrives. It is encouraging that at least the head coach appears as concerned as he is because his quarterback has shown that he will do whatever he has to do to move the chains.

“They were trying to run at me and just get quarterback hits on me. A lot teams think if you hit the quarterback enough, eventually he’ll stop coming after you,” Griffin said. “I just want to let everybody know that’s never going to happen.”

Hail.