Last year was a disaster for Robert Griffin III in every professional way imaginable.
But the Redskins quarterback told Mike Jones of the Washington Post that coming back from an injury, his dysfunctional relationship with the Shanahans and a 3-13 record helped him sharpen his focus.
“All of those struggles — being injured, working my way back, losing games, having people talk bad about me, talk bad about my family, which is very dear to me — it all let me know who I am,” Griffin said. “It’s shown me who I am, and it’s shown me who I’m not. It shows me that the little voice in the back of your head — that voice — it is your self-conscience. It’s not telling me that I know everything, or you know everything, but I know what makes me a great quarterback, and in my mind, those are the things that I found out in these first two years. . . .
“By enduring that, it’s put us in a better place. It’s put me in a better place this upcoming season, and the foreseeable future.”
Being healthy is a good first step, as the knee rehab clearly put him behind last year, and he never caught up. But having a healthy relationship with his coaches — which he clearly didn’t have last year — might help even more.