A physical and mental break would be beneficial for both Griffin and the team in several ways, with very little downside at this point in a 3-8 season. First, and most important, it’s the best way to protect the investment in him. As a raw quarterback drafted out of Baylor, Griffin had three noticeable qualities: He was an incredibly accurate thrower; he had immense physical courage in or out of the pocket; and he was a great student who was eager to learn. Those assets are in danger if he keeps taking this kind of beating.
Listen to Archie Manning, who talked about raising prodigies in an interview earlier this season. “The best advice I try to give a young quarterback is, you need to know what you’re doing,” he says. “You need to know what you’re doing, because if you know where to go with the football, you can get rid of it and throw it, and you won’t get hit.”
The fact is, Griffin doesn’t know where to go with the football, so he gets hit a lot. He’s not yet capable of making enough good reads and decisions under center to protect himself in the Redskins’ system. They have one of the smallest offensive lines in the league, by design; they want light, quick linemen, in order to execute zone blocking for their running backs. It works. They led the league in rushing last season are doing it again this year. But lightness becomes a problem when pass blocking, and to neutralize their lack of size in those situations, they count heavily on the decision-making of the quarterback, to get the ball away quickly and certainly. That hasn’t happened. Griffin has been indecisive and uncertain.
That brings us to the second reason why some time on the bench would do him good: He’s not fully healthy, and that has affected his accuracy and efficiency. “I don’t think he should be playing,” the 49ers’ Ahmad Brooks said. “You can see it. Everybody can see it, everybody can see it.”
Yes, we can, and it’s not just that he lacks the superconductor speed of last season, it’s that his knee has affected his mechanics. Once a pinpoint passer, he has become more erratic, and sometimes he throws off his back foot. Playing hurt is screwing up his habits.
Again, let’s turn to the best example, and listen to what a Manning says. Two years ago, Peyton Manning was determined to rush back from surgery to repair a herniated disk and nerve damage in his neck. But in trying to get his arm back too soon, he messed up his motion. His friend and former college mentor David Cutcliffe finally told him, “You’re throwing injured and it’s not healthy. You’ll only hurt something else, and also, it’s bad for you to see yourself throwing poorly. So stop throwing.”
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