Exactly one day after saying he didn't want to turn RGIII into a pocket passer, new Washington Redskins coach Jay Gruden said he wanted to turn RGIII into a pocket passer.
Sports on Earth reported Thursday that Gruden's primary task when the Redskins convene next summer is to work with Robert Griffin III on becoming a more conventional quarterback.
"My goal in training camp is to see how much he can develop as a drop-back passer," Gruden said. "Obviously he can do the rollouts and the naked bootlegs and all that. But let's see what he can do from the pocket, and if he can run from there, that's when he'll really get a lot of yards."
Initially, the plan sounds as if the drop-back passing will be used as a complement to Griffin's legs until Gruden comments further.
"There comes a point in a season, in a game, when you have to do some drop-back passing," he said. "You are going to have third-and-12 where you can run read option or a bubble screen. If you are down two touchdowns late in the third quarter, you have to be able to be a drop-back passing team. You have to have that part established. So we really want to focus on that, teach him some concepts we like and have at it."
The comments seem to be in sharp contrast to what Gruden told TheMMQB.com's Peter King on Wednesday.
"I worked with Andy Dalton for three years in Cincinnati, and built a foundation of concepts and protections that I think worked well with him," Gruden said. "With Robert, we'll obviously use his skill set differently. When it comes to the quarterback position, my job is to make him comfortable and productive. I'm not going to try to turn RG3 into Andy Dalton or Drew Brees. He isn't them. They're not him. I would be foolish to try to turn RG3 into a pocket passer. It would be foolish. The way he is as a runner, we have to take advantage of that. He strikes fear into defensive coordinators when he runs outside. I'm going to let him be himself."
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