Heading into a Week 1 battle with the Houston Texans on Sunday at Reliant Stadium, being liked is the furthest thing from Washington Redskins third-year quarterback Robert Griffin III's mind.
Patriots QB Tom Brady: 'When I Suck, I'll Retire'
With new Redskins head coach Jay Gruden saying in the spring that Griffin needs to worry less about what people think of him, the quarterback seems to be obliging him heading into the fall.
"Trust me, I'm not worried about anyone liking me," Griffin said Wednesday via ESPN.
Jim Harbaugh Reacts To Ray McDonald's Domestic Violence Arrest
Griffin, who tweeted last month that he wants people to keep doubting him, enters a season where the success of the Redskins very much rests on his shoulders.
When Griffin is at his best -- like in his rookie season in 2012, -- Washington can win the division, but when he isn't playing up to his full potential, they could disappoint like they did last season when they failed to make the playoffs and finished in dead last in the NFC East.
Gruden said that Griffin was too concerned with everyone liking him and Griffin has tried to shed that persona while also hoping to avoid another clash with his head coach like he had with Mike Shanahan when he was running the team last season.
"I know where Jay is coming from when he says those things," Griffin said. "I learned not everyone is going to like you. That's the nature of the business, that's the nature of human beings. There are people in this room that don't like me. You just have to move on from that stuff. Jay being here has helped me grow. My family has helped me grow. ... Those things come with the territory."
While Griffin wants to get his career back on the track it seemed to be headed for after his rookie campaign, he said he has nothing to prove to anyone after a knee injury hampered him down the stretch of his rookie campaign and affected him last season.
"I do this for my teammates," he said. "I do this for my family, for my organization. We don't have anything to prove to anybody out there. All we have to do is go out and be the team we know we can be. If you want to say we have a lot to prove to ourselves within this building. ... it's about all of us going out and being successful. Like I said many times this offseason, they go as I go. If I play well, we play well. If I don't play well, we don't play well."
Griffin, 24, burst on the scene as a rookie in 2012 and went 258-for-393 (65.6 percent) for 3,200 yards with 20 touchdowns and five interceptions and ran the ball 120 times for 815 yards while reaching the end zone seven times as Washington won the NFC East for the first time since 1999.
Griffin was derailed by a knee injury during that season that he re-injured during the 24-14 wild-card round loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
The quarterback recovered in time to take his place under center in his second year starting last fall, but didn't quite have the same dynamic season. Griffin went 274-for-456 (60.1 percent) for 3,203 yards with 16 scores and 12 picks in 2014 and rushed for just 489 yards on 86 carries without a single rushing touchdown.
Washington finished 2013 with a 3-13 mark and went from first to worst in the NFC East.
Heading into 2014, a lot of questions surround Griffin and the Redskins and the signal caller isn't fazed by the fact that the first team offense failed to record a touchdown in parts of three preseason games.
"Our job is to ignore the noise, to stay focused," Griffin said. "It's not to prove anyone wrong; it's for us to be successful."
For the third-year quarterback and his teammates, it's do-or-die come Sunday and a lot of the team's success will rest on Griffin's shoulders, whether people like him or not.
For more coverage, follow us on Twitter @SportsWN and Like Us on Facebook
© Copyright 2024 Sports World News, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.