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August 12, 2013
Quarterback Robert Griffin III
On his new look:
“New phase, new hair. Let’s do it.”
On if he expects to participate in 11-on-11 at practice this afternoon:
“I don’t know about this afternoon, but definitely tomorrow. Look forward to it. Been ready for it. It’s just a matter of time.”
On going through his routine prior to the preseason game:
“It’s gone just like everything else has gone this camp – very smoothly. Feel good, look good. Just ready to get out there and play and be out there with my teammates. The coaches are fine with it. I dressed during the game, got a little more work in and that’s the way I have to do it. Their job is to make sure that I’m ready and my job is to make sure I’m ready too. So I do everything I can to make sure, no matter what happens, that I’m ready to go.”
On if he will participate in 11-on-11 tomorrow:
“I’ve heard multiple reports, but, yeah, that’s the plan to go 11-on-11 tomorrow.”
On what he can accomplish in 11-on-11:
“Just live-action, getting guys flying at you. I don’t think it’s a huge step. I just think it’s time to get back out there with my teammates. I’ve proven that I can protect myself and [I’m] dang near close to 100 percent. I feel good and now I’m glad that Coach feels the same way.”
On if running less would make him less effective:
“I don’t think it affects very much at all. We ran a lot last year because defenses were giving that to us. Whether it was me or Alfred [Morris], that’s the way we are going to approach it this year as well. The more you play the game, especially at this level, the better you’re going to get. There will be times this year where we don’t have to run. We can sit back there and throw the ball. Be a pocket passer, which I thoroughly enjoy. But it is what it is and you just go with whatever Coach calls and you just have to make it work.”
On if he knows for sure if he will or will not be participating in 11-on-11:
“I know. I know the whole plan. I don’t know if he [Coach Mike Shanahan] wants me to tell the whole plan, so I’m just going to leave it at that.”
On how tomorrow’s practice will be different for him from the previous practices at camp:
“You’ll get to see me play football, not just do 7-on-7. That’s the goal. Team drills. Live-action. Having fun with my boys. That’s just how it is.”
On if he will be nervous for 11-on-11:
“No, I’d just like to see the look on the guys’ faces when I step in the huddle. They laugh and joke about it that they haven’t seen me in a while, but I think the guys are happy to have me back out there and that’s what it’s all about. I don’t think it’s a huge step. Like I’ve said, I’ve been ready for this. I think that’s well-documented. I’ve said it multiple times. But you’ve just got to go with whatever Coach does because I’m doing everything they ask me to do.”
On if his teammates ask about when he is returning:
“I don’t think they wonder. I did the workout before training camp and I had a lot of my teammates there helping me, catching passes and things like that. They’ve seen me workout, they’ve seen me run, they’ve seen me cut. They know that I’m fine. It’s just a matter of when Coach is going to let me get back out there.”
On reacting to the rush:
“I think that will be fine. You try to mimic it as much as you can, making movements without thinking about them – breaking and escaping from the pocket, stopping [and] starting really fast. That’s what you have to do when you play football. When I get out there and it’s a game-like situation, you just react and you trust that you’re going to be OK.”
On dressing for the Tennessee game:
“Like I said, you’ve got to treat it like a game, treat it like you’re going to play. If Week 1 was that first preseason game, I felt ready to play. I felt like I would have been playing, so that’s why I suited up, not only to let the team know I’m OK, let everyone know I’m OK, but also get that extra work in and just feel what it feels like to be in full pads because we don’t do that very often.”
On if dressing for a game amps him up:
“I mean, I do get amped up. You’re ready to go no matter what happens. You just calm down – in the back of your mind, you know you’re not playing so you can go a little bit harder in pregame warmups. You can go a little bit harder in the workout I did before the game. You just realize that, 'Hey, it’s the preseason. I don’t have to play. I don’t need to play right now.’ And that’s when you settle it down.”
On not needing a day off like other players returning from knee injuries:
“It is not a knock on anybody else whether you have soreness or stiffness in your knee or you need a day off. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. It is not a knock against [running back Chris] Thompson or [safety Brandon] Meriweather. It is just the way that my rehab has gone. I haven’t had that soreness. I haven’t needed a day off. You just go from there. I am proud that I have good genes. Thanks Mom, Dad. I am healing very well and thankful for that, thankful to God for that.”
On if he has any pregame routines:
“I am not very superstitious but I do walk around the field one time before every game to kind of mark my territory, saying, 'Within these lines, you control what happens.’ I do that before every game. Other than that, I listen to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” before every game and that is about it.:
On level of certainty about his availability in Week 1:
“There is no doubt that I’m playing Week 1. That is just the way I feel about it.”
On his new hairstyle:
“Like I said, new phase, new hair. That was just a joke, but the guys love it. They love cornrows. Candace at The Beauty Bar did my hair here in Richmond. Shout out to you guys. Thank you for the good 'do. I enjoy it. I like it. What do you guys think?”
On how long he may keep the hairstyle:
“I do not know, maybe past the Monday night game. Maybe let my mom go back and do my hair. We will see what happens.”
On if he will try to convince Shanahan to let him play in the preseason:
“You know me too well. I’m going to, definitely. I want to play, let’s get that straight. I want to play in the preseason. Coach is just saying that if things go great these next couple of days and next week, then maybe, but it’s a hard no right now. It’s my job to make that a soft no and possibly a yes. But I’m definitely going to push for it. I feel ready to go. The walkthrough was easy, really easy, and I feel like I’ll be ready to go. We’ll see what happens. I’ll definitely push for that third game, but who knows what happens.”
On if Shanahan has expressed any regret about the Seattle game:
“Yeah, I mean we ironed that out. There’s definitely a trust there. He’s expressed regret. Everybody had a little error in what happened in that situation. We’ve addressed it. We’ve moved on. This is part of the moving-on process. I have to be patient. That’s why I call it 'Operation Patience.’ You don’t always have to like it. You don’t always have to know why it’s going on. But at the end of the day, God’s going to bring me out of this and get me back out there on the field with my teammates where I belong.”
On what Shanahan specifically said to him about the Seattle game:
“That’s got to stay private. I can’t divulge that out of respect for the relationship between me and Coach.”
On hurdles he can’t clear until he plays in a game:
“I don’t think the mental aspect is the problem. In college, we didn’t have preseason games. I played the first game of the year and you get all those jitters out then. It’s more anxiousness. It’s not nervousness about the knee or anything. It’s just about getting back out there. Everyone’s going to remember your first hit when you come back from the injury, what happens. If you get up, if you tap the guy on the shoulder and say good hit and move on, that’s going to happen. So that’ll happen Week 1, but I don’t have any anxiety about that at all. I’m just ready to go.”
On if he likes and understands his current recovery plan:
“I can’t BS that answer. No, I don’t like it, but there is some part of it that I do understand. I don’t understand all of it. But at the end of the day, he [Shanahan] gave me his word. We talked privately. I know the plan. I am not telling the whole plan because he doesn’t want the whole plan known and I understand that as well. I don’t understand the whole plan at all. I can’t lie about that, but when you give your word to somebody, that’s all you have, so I’m just banking that they will stay true to their word and I’m staying true to mine. I’m doing everything they have asked me to without any gripes other than with you guys and that’s just the way you have to do it.”
On how his familiarity with the rehab process changed how he approached it:
“I was more ready for it. I knew what parts of the rehab were going to be the most difficult. I knew where you were going to have the most pain, which is early on in the process. I know that every time you do a new exercise, it might not feel right the first time, but once you do it again, you got that confidence back. All you’ve got to do is retrain your muscles to do what they did before the injury, and you have muscle memory, you just have to wake that muscle memory up. So that helped me a little bit. Then just having the confidence to know I can go back out there and play at a high level like before and even better than before, I did that in college and I know I can do that in the NFL.”
On the level of scrutiny on his recovery:
“I knew this was going to happen, it happened on a much, much, much smaller scale in college and God puts us through things in our lives so that later on when we experience something bigger, we know how to handle it. I’m trying my dang-est to handle this as good as I can, so I appreciate what happened to me in college and how it’s prepared me for right now. And the scrutiny is going to come. You know everyone’s going to say different things. Everyone’s going to have a different opinion, but in the NFL, that opinion gets heard a lot more than the local college newspaper. So I don’t really listen to it. I’m a confident guy. Coaches are confident in me. Players are confident in me. That’s all I need.”
On his reaction to not having any soreness or swelling during camp and how that compares to his recovery at Baylor:
“In the spring, I actually tore mine at Baylor early in the year and I went through spring ball, so I had a little soreness in the knee during that time but none of it held me out of practice time. Then when we came to fall, I was completely fine. So I’m at the same time period now that I was then in college, and I feel fine now. It’s no difference. It just takes time to heal and it’s been a lot of time of healing, at least in my mind.”
On the parts of the recovery plan he doesn’t understand:
“I can try without putting any bulletin board material up there. Basically, the parts that I don’t understand is that it’s been fixed; the rehab process – or my reintegration into the team – have been fixed without any aspect of how I’m doing personally with my knee, with my knee surgery, with my rehab. It’s predetermined and that’s the one thing I don’t understand. But like Coach said – he’s 100 percent right – I don’t have to understand it. I don’t have to like it. But at the end of the day, if he plays me Week 1 and I’m ready to go, then I’ll give him a salute and I’ll go play my butt off for him.”
On being pranked by his teammates:
“Got to give a shoutout to [fullback] Darrel Young, [tackle] Trent Williams and [running back] Alfred Morris. They got me with the water bottle trick today. If y’all don’t know what that is, they unscrewed the top, they give you the water bottle because you’re thirsty and it spilled all over me. Good job guys.”
Quarterback Robert Griffin III
On his new look:
“New phase, new hair. Let’s do it.”
On if he expects to participate in 11-on-11 at practice this afternoon:
“I don’t know about this afternoon, but definitely tomorrow. Look forward to it. Been ready for it. It’s just a matter of time.”
On going through his routine prior to the preseason game:
“It’s gone just like everything else has gone this camp – very smoothly. Feel good, look good. Just ready to get out there and play and be out there with my teammates. The coaches are fine with it. I dressed during the game, got a little more work in and that’s the way I have to do it. Their job is to make sure that I’m ready and my job is to make sure I’m ready too. So I do everything I can to make sure, no matter what happens, that I’m ready to go.”
On if he will participate in 11-on-11 tomorrow:
“I’ve heard multiple reports, but, yeah, that’s the plan to go 11-on-11 tomorrow.”
On what he can accomplish in 11-on-11:
“Just live-action, getting guys flying at you. I don’t think it’s a huge step. I just think it’s time to get back out there with my teammates. I’ve proven that I can protect myself and [I’m] dang near close to 100 percent. I feel good and now I’m glad that Coach feels the same way.”
On if running less would make him less effective:
“I don’t think it affects very much at all. We ran a lot last year because defenses were giving that to us. Whether it was me or Alfred [Morris], that’s the way we are going to approach it this year as well. The more you play the game, especially at this level, the better you’re going to get. There will be times this year where we don’t have to run. We can sit back there and throw the ball. Be a pocket passer, which I thoroughly enjoy. But it is what it is and you just go with whatever Coach calls and you just have to make it work.”
On if he knows for sure if he will or will not be participating in 11-on-11:
“I know. I know the whole plan. I don’t know if he [Coach Mike Shanahan] wants me to tell the whole plan, so I’m just going to leave it at that.”
On how tomorrow’s practice will be different for him from the previous practices at camp:
“You’ll get to see me play football, not just do 7-on-7. That’s the goal. Team drills. Live-action. Having fun with my boys. That’s just how it is.”
On if he will be nervous for 11-on-11:
“No, I’d just like to see the look on the guys’ faces when I step in the huddle. They laugh and joke about it that they haven’t seen me in a while, but I think the guys are happy to have me back out there and that’s what it’s all about. I don’t think it’s a huge step. Like I’ve said, I’ve been ready for this. I think that’s well-documented. I’ve said it multiple times. But you’ve just got to go with whatever Coach does because I’m doing everything they ask me to do.”
On if his teammates ask about when he is returning:
“I don’t think they wonder. I did the workout before training camp and I had a lot of my teammates there helping me, catching passes and things like that. They’ve seen me workout, they’ve seen me run, they’ve seen me cut. They know that I’m fine. It’s just a matter of when Coach is going to let me get back out there.”
On reacting to the rush:
“I think that will be fine. You try to mimic it as much as you can, making movements without thinking about them – breaking and escaping from the pocket, stopping [and] starting really fast. That’s what you have to do when you play football. When I get out there and it’s a game-like situation, you just react and you trust that you’re going to be OK.”
On dressing for the Tennessee game:
“Like I said, you’ve got to treat it like a game, treat it like you’re going to play. If Week 1 was that first preseason game, I felt ready to play. I felt like I would have been playing, so that’s why I suited up, not only to let the team know I’m OK, let everyone know I’m OK, but also get that extra work in and just feel what it feels like to be in full pads because we don’t do that very often.”
On if dressing for a game amps him up:
“I mean, I do get amped up. You’re ready to go no matter what happens. You just calm down – in the back of your mind, you know you’re not playing so you can go a little bit harder in pregame warmups. You can go a little bit harder in the workout I did before the game. You just realize that, 'Hey, it’s the preseason. I don’t have to play. I don’t need to play right now.’ And that’s when you settle it down.”
On not needing a day off like other players returning from knee injuries:
“It is not a knock on anybody else whether you have soreness or stiffness in your knee or you need a day off. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. It is not a knock against [running back Chris] Thompson or [safety Brandon] Meriweather. It is just the way that my rehab has gone. I haven’t had that soreness. I haven’t needed a day off. You just go from there. I am proud that I have good genes. Thanks Mom, Dad. I am healing very well and thankful for that, thankful to God for that.”
On if he has any pregame routines:
“I am not very superstitious but I do walk around the field one time before every game to kind of mark my territory, saying, 'Within these lines, you control what happens.’ I do that before every game. Other than that, I listen to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” before every game and that is about it.:
On level of certainty about his availability in Week 1:
“There is no doubt that I’m playing Week 1. That is just the way I feel about it.”
On his new hairstyle:
“Like I said, new phase, new hair. That was just a joke, but the guys love it. They love cornrows. Candace at The Beauty Bar did my hair here in Richmond. Shout out to you guys. Thank you for the good 'do. I enjoy it. I like it. What do you guys think?”
On how long he may keep the hairstyle:
“I do not know, maybe past the Monday night game. Maybe let my mom go back and do my hair. We will see what happens.”
On if he will try to convince Shanahan to let him play in the preseason:
“You know me too well. I’m going to, definitely. I want to play, let’s get that straight. I want to play in the preseason. Coach is just saying that if things go great these next couple of days and next week, then maybe, but it’s a hard no right now. It’s my job to make that a soft no and possibly a yes. But I’m definitely going to push for it. I feel ready to go. The walkthrough was easy, really easy, and I feel like I’ll be ready to go. We’ll see what happens. I’ll definitely push for that third game, but who knows what happens.”
On if Shanahan has expressed any regret about the Seattle game:
“Yeah, I mean we ironed that out. There’s definitely a trust there. He’s expressed regret. Everybody had a little error in what happened in that situation. We’ve addressed it. We’ve moved on. This is part of the moving-on process. I have to be patient. That’s why I call it 'Operation Patience.’ You don’t always have to like it. You don’t always have to know why it’s going on. But at the end of the day, God’s going to bring me out of this and get me back out there on the field with my teammates where I belong.”
On what Shanahan specifically said to him about the Seattle game:
“That’s got to stay private. I can’t divulge that out of respect for the relationship between me and Coach.”
On hurdles he can’t clear until he plays in a game:
“I don’t think the mental aspect is the problem. In college, we didn’t have preseason games. I played the first game of the year and you get all those jitters out then. It’s more anxiousness. It’s not nervousness about the knee or anything. It’s just about getting back out there. Everyone’s going to remember your first hit when you come back from the injury, what happens. If you get up, if you tap the guy on the shoulder and say good hit and move on, that’s going to happen. So that’ll happen Week 1, but I don’t have any anxiety about that at all. I’m just ready to go.”
On if he likes and understands his current recovery plan:
“I can’t BS that answer. No, I don’t like it, but there is some part of it that I do understand. I don’t understand all of it. But at the end of the day, he [Shanahan] gave me his word. We talked privately. I know the plan. I am not telling the whole plan because he doesn’t want the whole plan known and I understand that as well. I don’t understand the whole plan at all. I can’t lie about that, but when you give your word to somebody, that’s all you have, so I’m just banking that they will stay true to their word and I’m staying true to mine. I’m doing everything they have asked me to without any gripes other than with you guys and that’s just the way you have to do it.”
On how his familiarity with the rehab process changed how he approached it:
“I was more ready for it. I knew what parts of the rehab were going to be the most difficult. I knew where you were going to have the most pain, which is early on in the process. I know that every time you do a new exercise, it might not feel right the first time, but once you do it again, you got that confidence back. All you’ve got to do is retrain your muscles to do what they did before the injury, and you have muscle memory, you just have to wake that muscle memory up. So that helped me a little bit. Then just having the confidence to know I can go back out there and play at a high level like before and even better than before, I did that in college and I know I can do that in the NFL.”
On the level of scrutiny on his recovery:
“I knew this was going to happen, it happened on a much, much, much smaller scale in college and God puts us through things in our lives so that later on when we experience something bigger, we know how to handle it. I’m trying my dang-est to handle this as good as I can, so I appreciate what happened to me in college and how it’s prepared me for right now. And the scrutiny is going to come. You know everyone’s going to say different things. Everyone’s going to have a different opinion, but in the NFL, that opinion gets heard a lot more than the local college newspaper. So I don’t really listen to it. I’m a confident guy. Coaches are confident in me. Players are confident in me. That’s all I need.”
On his reaction to not having any soreness or swelling during camp and how that compares to his recovery at Baylor:
“In the spring, I actually tore mine at Baylor early in the year and I went through spring ball, so I had a little soreness in the knee during that time but none of it held me out of practice time. Then when we came to fall, I was completely fine. So I’m at the same time period now that I was then in college, and I feel fine now. It’s no difference. It just takes time to heal and it’s been a lot of time of healing, at least in my mind.”
On the parts of the recovery plan he doesn’t understand:
“I can try without putting any bulletin board material up there. Basically, the parts that I don’t understand is that it’s been fixed; the rehab process – or my reintegration into the team – have been fixed without any aspect of how I’m doing personally with my knee, with my knee surgery, with my rehab. It’s predetermined and that’s the one thing I don’t understand. But like Coach said – he’s 100 percent right – I don’t have to understand it. I don’t have to like it. But at the end of the day, if he plays me Week 1 and I’m ready to go, then I’ll give him a salute and I’ll go play my butt off for him.”
On being pranked by his teammates:
“Got to give a shoutout to [fullback] Darrel Young, [tackle] Trent Williams and [running back] Alfred Morris. They got me with the water bottle trick today. If y’all don’t know what that is, they unscrewed the top, they give you the water bottle because you’re thirsty and it spilled all over me. Good job guys.”