Art Briles knows how to get the best out of Robert Griffin III. When Briles was Griffin’s coach at Baylor, Griffin won the Heisman Trophy.
So Briles has some advice for Griffin’s current coach, Jay Gruden: Adapt your offense to get the best out of Griffin.
“You don’t always have him adapt to what you want to do; adapt to what his abilities are,” Briles said on ESPN, via the Washington Post. “I’m saying if he’s going to be our guy, let’s do what our guy does best.”
Briles said he spent time with Griffin this week and is optimistic about Griffin’s future.
“I think the deal with Robert, I love where his attitude is right now,” Briles said. “His mind was as good yesterday — and his spirit — as I’ve seen it in two years. He’s not a broken man. You can get broken at that position. He’s not that way. He’s powerful, he’s strong, he’s one of the best competitors that I’ve ever been around and he’s got athletic ability to back it up. So, I think the future’s bright. It’s not a three-year, four-year span, it’s a 10-year span. Let’s judge him after 10 years.”
That all sounds well and good, but the NFL doesn’t give people 10 years if they’re not performing up to expectations. And for the last two years, Griffin hasn’t performed up to expectations. NFL coaches would gladly adapt their offenses for a quarterback who played the way Griffin played as a rookie. Unfortunately, Griffin doesn’t play that way anymore.
