{"id":51916,"date":"2017-11-11T06:59:49","date_gmt":"2017-11-11T06:59:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=51916"},"modified":"2017-11-11T06:59:49","modified_gmt":"2017-11-11T06:59:49","slug":"mike-shanahan-says-rgiii-really-believed-aaron-rodgers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/sports\/mike-shanahan-says-rgiii-really-believed-aaron-rodgers.html","title":{"rendered":"Mike Shanahan says RGIII \u2018really believed he was Aaron Rodgers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mike Shanahan says RGIII \u2018really believed he was Aaron Rodgers<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Mike Shanahan says RGIII \u2018really believed he was Aaron Rodgers:-It\u2019s becoming increasingly clear that the careers of former Washington Redskins coach Mike Shanahan and quarterback Robert Griffin III will be forever linked, especially since neither can seem to stop talking about the other.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shanahan appeared on Fox Sports 1\u2019s \u201cUndisputed\u201d on Friday afternoon, and co-host Skip Bayless asked the ex-coach about his thoughts on Griffin\u2019s \u201cevolution off the field.\u201d It started off a four-minute segment in which Shanahan did not hold back, blaming himself for not getting through to his quarterback but also criticizing Griffin for trying to be someone he wasn\u2019t.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be honest with you, I was really disappointed myself, because I knew where Robert was going,\u201d Shanahan said. \u201cI knew where his dad was going. I knew where [Redskins owner] Dan Snyder was going. It was up to me to convince this guy that, \u2018Hey, if you don\u2019t run, your drop-back game .\u2009.\u2009. it\u2019s not there now, but you can get there.\u2019 I blame myself for not getting to the kid. He really believes he was Aaron Rodgers. In his mind, he believed he was Aaron Rodgers. I said, \u2018You know what? You\u2019re not Aaron Rodgers, and Aaron Rodgers is not you.\u2019 \u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Shanahan\u2019s comments came just a few months after Griffin tweeted that his first two seasons in Washington were an \u201cimpossible situation with a coach who never wanted me.\u201d In October, Griffin elaborated to 106.7 The Fan that he was \u201cdrafted to a team with a coach who didn\u2019t want me, with an organization that wasn\u2019t sold on me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Griffin, who is out of the league, was the 2012 offensive rookie of the year but could not recapture that season\u2019s magic after injuring his knee in Washington\u2019s playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks following the season.<\/span><\/p>\n

In that season, coaches had Griffin run a play-action and read-option offense that took advantage of Griffin\u2019s speed. But after getting injured, Griffin was reluctant to run as much, Shanahan said. There have been reports that Griffin demanded after his rookie season that read-option plays be stripped from the offense during a meeting \u2014 something Griffin has disputed. Former Redskins quarterback Rex Grossman, in an interview with ESPN 980, backed up Shanahan\u2019s version of the events and said the coach \u201chas the tape of that meeting.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn time you can learn the drop-back game and you will get better, but you got to do some of the things that we\u2019ve been doing your rookie year to keep the defenses off you,\u201d Shanahan said he told Griffin. \u201cBecause with that play-action game, Robert had all the time in the world to throw. He had time. He was getting better.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009. But the next year, because of the injury, he felt like, \u2018Hey, I can\u2019t run anymore.\u2019 \u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou can come back from that knee [injury], but what you have to do is get better at the drop-back game, doing some of the things we\u2019ve been doing,\u201d Shanahan continued. \u201cWith that, I said, \u2018You got a chance. If not, you\u2019ll be out of the game in four to five years.\u2019 \u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Griffin was released by the Redskins in March 2016 after losing the starting job to Kirk Cousins. He signed with the Cleveland Browns from there but was released in March 2017 and has been training in Florida in hopes of return to the NFL.<\/span><\/p>\n

To Shanahan, Griffin struggled to become a pure pocket passer because he lacked the natural anticipation that other quarterbacks have.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn my experience, you watch people practice every day, you know if they can throw, if they\u2019re a natural at it,\u201d he said. \u201cYou know when it takes a little bit longer, or if you can\u2019t slide in the pocket, if you don\u2019t have the anticipation. He did not have that so you knew he was going to struggle. I had to convince him this is going to take some time, but I was never able to do that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Shanahan also told a story of how he sat down with Griffin to watch film of Andrew Luck \u2014 picked first overall in the 2012 draft by the Indianapolis Colts, one spot ahead of Griffin \u2014 after co-host Shannon Sharpe asked if the praise Luck received affected Griffin.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI told Robert, \u2018Let\u2019s sit down and watch [Luck\u2019s] film,\u2019 \u201d Shanahan said. \u201cI\u2019ve never seen a guy get hit more than Andrew Luck did. \u2018Let\u2019s look at you: One of the reasons you haven\u2019t been hit is the defense is afraid to rush you. You\u2019ve got to play the option reads. You got all day to throw play action on first and second down. What we\u2019ve got to get you better on [is] third down,\u2019 and we did get better on it, but then after that, of course things changed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Bayless ended the segment by asking if Griffin\u2019s close relationship with Snyder played a role in the coach-quarterback falling out. Shanahan used the opportunity to explain the disconnect between what he saw as a coach and what Griffin and his supporters believed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest with you, with a guy like Dan, he believed Robert had all those things, all the tools,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can see why an owner or dad or mother says, \u2018Hey, don\u2019t get my son hit.\u2019 I understand that, but one thing you have to learn is if you do run a read-option, the quarterback cannot get hit. He has to slide, give the ball off, pitch it .\u2009.\u2009.\u2009. If you do run, never take a hit. That\u2019s what Russell Wilson has done throughout his career. He\u2019s the best at it. Deshaun Watson, he\u2019s doing unbelievable, doing the same thing: sliding, throwing the ball away, being able to throw on the run.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/dc-sports-bog\/wp\/2017\/11\/10\/mike-shanahan-says-rgiii-really-believed-he-was-aaron-rodgers<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t <\/div><\/div>\n\t\t