To weave his way through his latest controversy in Washington, Robert Griffin III went full-on Belichick.
The Patriots coach famously shut out the media after a blowout loss to the Chiefs with repeated proclamations of, "We're on to Cincinnati." RGIII -- perhaps at the urging of his own team -- went with a similar public relations strategy during his Wednesday media availability.
"We're focused on San Francisco."
That answer -- or a version of it -- was Griffin's catch-all for a host of questions that attempted to gain insight on the quarterback's head space two days after Redskins coach Jay Gruden was publicly critical of Griffin following an ugly loss to the Buccaneers.
Griffin described his relationship with Gruden as "great" and said that "a large majority" of Redskins players came to talk to him this week. Griffin chose not to elaborate on his postgame comments from Sunday, in which he said a quarterback can only thrive when the team around him is playing well. He instead pointed to a Facebook message posted on Monday.
Beyond that, Griffin didn't offer much:
Do you need to make changes to your fundamentals?
"Jay wants me to play better. I want to play better. We're focused on San Francisco and making that happen."
Do you plan to dial it back in what you say to media?
"Yeah man, like I said, we're focused on San Francisco, so that's all we got."
How does a quarterback improve his mechanics?
"Yeah man, like I said, just focus on San Francisco now."
Has this year set back your development?
"Oh man, I've only been able to play a couple games, but we got another one coming up and that's all we're promised. So (I'm) just focused on San Francisco. Just doing what i can to help this team win."
On Steve Young's criticism of his work habits: Do you put in the work?
"(I'm) focused on San Francisco, man. Not letting anything on the outside distract us from that."
Do you ever think of what's changed since 2012?
"Like I said, man, focus on San Francisco. (It's) my second offense in the league. Just trying to hammer everything down and get better at my craft like coach wants me to."
It went on that way for eight painful minutes before Griffin stepped away from the podium. It certainly seems like the Redskins don't trust him to say the right thing, and we can't say we blame them.
But Griffin is right to focus on San Francisco and beyond: The next six weeks will likely determine if RGIII has a future in Washington.
The latest Around The NFL Podcast previews Chiefs-Raiders and reacts to the drama in D.C. as well as Adrian Peterson's suspension. Find more Around The NFL content on NFL NOW.
