Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III continued his passive-aggressive campaign for preseason snaps this week, and coach Mike Shanahan continued to play bad-cop by saying no.
And at least one player is with Shanahan on this one.
Veteran wideout Santana Moss was asked by Jarrett Bell of USA Today what he’d do if he were the coach, and Moss said he wouldn’t let Griffin play either.
“I wouldn’t do it,” Moss said. “No matter what he means to the team, I wouldn’t do it. Being a guy that’s all about players and the player that I’m considering, I’d have to talk to him because I know deep down inside that he wants to play.
“But he’d have to respect my authority for that decision.”
Moss said he understood and respected Griffin’s desire to come back, but as a guy who’s going into his 13th year, he understands that after all the criticism Shanahan took this offseason, the firm hand was understandable.
“As football players, we’ve got to abide by what the coaches want,” Moss said. “As competitive players, we want to do a whole lot. And I know where Robert is. He’s rare. I know it’s hard, because he wants to go out there and get into that rhythm and flow. He wants to be sharp and phenomenal like he’s going to be, anyway.
“He’s special, but Coach has to be hard on him. You don’t want that to be the cause of our season [falling apart] because you took one chance and let him play in the preseason because he wanted to.”
Perhaps more players need to be saying similar things, because for whatever reason, Griffin’s been unwilling thus far to let it go.