Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan has spent the last three days putting together a game plan for Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III, and he says it all comes down to playing physical football.
Ryan said that when he prepares his defenses to play mobile quarterbacks like Griffin, he doesn’t like to blitz a lot because if a fast quarterback gets past the blitz, he’s gone. Instead, Ryan says it’s up to the defensive linemen to bring Griffin down.
“The big thing is we have to hit these guys hard,” Ryan said. “That’s the big thing. We have big football players out there on defense and we plan on hitting them hard. And that’s what is going to happen. Hopefully he will have a bad Thanksgiving.”
Ryan said he’s impressed with what Griffin has done so far in his rookie season, noting that he’s been everything the Redskins thought he would be when they traded three first-round draft picks and one second-round draft pick to acquire him.
“He is a special player,” Ryan said. “That’s why they traded half a team to get him. Obviously, he’s a tremendous athlete and they say he is a hell of a kid. I don’t like him, but I know he is very talented. This game looks like it’s in slow-motion for him already and hopefully we speed it up a whole lot this week.”
And if the Cowboys hit Griffin hard enough, they may slow him down.