New Redskins coach Jay Gruden knows that quarterback Robert Griffin III can be dangerous on the move.
He just wants to be smart about keeping him moving late in the season.
Gruden said during an interview with Sports Talk 570’s Andy Pollin (via the Washington Post), that he wanted to limit the amount of read option plays to protect Griffin.
“We’ll have sprinkles here and there,” Gruden said. “It’s not going to be a major part. I want to make sure that we have other things that we can do besides the read option, because it takes a toll. You have to practice it a lot to be very good at it. It kind of takes away from the defense’s ability a little bit, it takes away from other plays that you need to work on, your protection schemes, your running game, all that stuff. It just takes away from that.
“So we want to make sure that we work on the core running game that we have, the core drop-back passes we have. And then once we get going, we get those implemented, maybe sprinkle in some read option.”
In his first two seasons, the Redskins used the read option on roughly 20 percent of their run plays. Griffin went from 120 carries for 815 yards as a rookie to 86 for 489 his second season (13 games).
Of course, there might be more than the preservation of the quarterback on Gruden’s mind. After adding DeSean Jackson and Andre Roberts this offseason, the Redskins have more weapons in the passing game, which they need to take advantage of as Griffin gets his feet back underneath him in the pocket.