Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III says the Rams are dirty. The Rams (specifically running back Steven Jackson) say that Griffin is not in Waco anymore.
But Redskins defensive end Adam Carriker, who suffered a torn quad tendon early in Sunday’s loss to the Rams, agrees with Griffin’s belief that there’s something dirty in St. Louis.
“You know, I played two plays, but from what I saw I would completely agree,” Carriker told our pals LaVar Arrington and Chad Dukes of 106.7 The Fan in D.C. on Thursday, via the Washington Post. “I don’t know, but it looked like they’re coached to play that way. I don’t know if that’s the truth, but that’s just what it looked like. I mean, I saw [London Fletcher] on the ground, the O-lineman jumps on him.
“You know, there were guys on the sideline talking about ‘the guy was twisting my ankle under the pile,’ or ‘this guy was talking about I’m gonna take your knees out after a play.’ Some guys said it was the dirtiest game they’d ever played in. And I’d never seen anything quite like it, just because it looked like they could explode at any second.”
Carriker thinks it’s a reality of the replacement officials.
“You have to approach it like that with these new refs, just because you can tell that they’re not the regular refs,” Carriker said. “The way I would handle it if I was able to suit up this Sunday, I would try to dominate them in between the play.
“And then if they did something after the play, I would do exactly what Fletch did after that guy jumped on him. Fletch got up, stared at him, got right in his face. Did not push him, did not shove him, but he let him know, that’s not gonna happen. And you can’t throw a flag for that. That’s exactly how I would handle it.”
Carriker’s belief that the Rams are “coached to play that way” raises some interesting questions. During his time as head coach of the Titans, Jeff Fisher had plenty of players with a reputation for being chippy -- as does his former defensive coordinator’s Lions team.
Moreover, someone who is very familiar with the Saints defense under coordinator Gregg Williams recently remarked that the Rams defense has Gregg Williams’ fingerprints all over it, presumably via his son, Blake. So even though there’s surely no bounty or pay-for-performance program in St. Louis, the comments from Carriker should make folks wonder whether there’s an institutional approach to getting under the skin of opposing players by going after them, after the whistle.
Which makes me even more convinced that Cortnoris will be doing their best to cause Brandon Marshall to blow a gasket on Sunday at Soldier Field.
