Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III is mortal after all.
The rookie made a few missteps as he tried to evade tacklers in the Redskins’ 33-31 preseason loss to the Chicago Bears on Saturday. He fumbled once, was sacked three times, banged into a defender instead of slipping to the safety of the sideline safety and finished with a passer rating about half of what it was in his debut.
It wasn’t a horrible outing, just one that might be representative of what lies ahead behind a makeshift line. The Redskins say left guard Kory Lichtensteiger and right guard Chris Chester will return by the start of the regular season, but neither is a Pro Bowl player. Right tackle seems vacant.
Griffin will find plenty of days when the offensive line can’t provide running lanes and he will have to throw too often, especially if the defense allows opposing quarterbacks to cut it up like the Bears’ Jay Cutler did with 17 points in four drives.
The line will force the Redskins to be a pass-first team, so Griffin quickly must become the player for whom the Redskins paid three first-round picks and a second-round pick to draft.
Griffin made some nice plays. The 16-yard pass to Santana Moss on third-and-3 under pressure was the most impressive throw. He gained an extra five yards with his speed on a 14-yard run.
But Griffin seemed more hesitant against a playoff-caliber defense than he did vs. a mediocre Buffalo squad the previous week. The Bears flashed a few looks, and Griffin needed a split second more to react that wasn’t available under pressure. He didn’t throw an interception, but the sizzle he had in the opener was missing.
And the fumble on a sack that Chicago soon converted for a touchdown — that sure looked familiar from last year. That’s two fumbles in two games; hopefully it’s not a harbinger of more or the Redskins might as well have kept starting Rex Grossman.
Griffin also needs to give up on a play rather than risk negative yards. Two sacks were on screens that Griffin should have tossed away. That’s a rookie mistake; he’s trying to make something happen that just isn’t there. He will stop doing that eventually.
The performance of fourth-round pick Kirk Cousins — he completed 18 of 23 passes for 264 yards and three touchdowns — normally would invoke Heath Shuler-Gus Frerotte comparisons. But this is Griffin’s job — period. Cousins is proving to be a better draft choice than a tackle and might press Grossman for the backup role, but Cousins will play in the regular season only if Griffin is injured or the team starts 0-6 and coach Mike Shanahan becomes desperate.
Griffin is no different than any other rookie who struggles. Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper made the All-Star Game in the first half and hasn’t hit close to his weight since.
It’s better to expose problems now when the games don’t count so the Redskins can resolve them. In just three weeks, everything counts. Unfortunately, it might be any different from Saturday.
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more on Twitter @Snide_Remarks or email [email protected].
