Robert Griffin III has been without an NFL team since January, but that doesn’t mean the former Ravens backup is done with football. In fact, Griffin is so eager to resume playing that he’d jump at the opportunity to return to Washington, where he began his career and lasted just four polarizing seasons muddled by injuries and reported internal disputes. Griffin joined “The Adam Schefter Podcast” on Tuesday to explain, saying he “would love to go back and be able to have that come full circle” in the wake of Ryan Fitzpatrick’s injury.
“When I see all these opportunities, guys maximizing (them), that’s what I wanna get to,” Griffin told Schefter, referencing career resurgences from veterans like Ryan Tannehill and Nick Foles. “I know this year, I mean it’s the season, (so) you’re not competing to be [a] quote-unquote starter in the season, so for me, it’s about … a team has an injury or they wanna bring me in, (that’d be) awesome. I’m on board for that.”
“I do firmly believe not only in my own ability,” Griffin continued, “and I’m a young 31, because I haven’t had an opportunity to really play the game for about five or six years, extensively.”
Asked by Schefter whether Washington would be an option for Griffin five years after he was released from his original team, the free agent insisted he’d be OK with it.
“That would have to be something that Coach Ron Rivera and the team would be open to,” he said. “You never say never. Would I be open to it? Yeah, I would love to go back and be able to have that come full circle. But am I begging for that or pleading for that? Nah. But if your guy goes down, make the call. Wouldn’t it be a great story?”
Washington, of course, seems content without Griffin for now. Despite losing Fitzpatrick, the team got a winning performance from fill-in starter Taylor Heinicke in Week 2, and Rivera spent all offseason touting Heinicke, who signed a two-year extension in February, as competition for the club’s top QB job. Then there’s the fact Griffin hasn’t found success as a starter in close to a decade. After his famous rookie showcase with Washington back in 2015, the Baylor product started just 20 more games for the NFC East contender and has appeared in just 19 games over the last six years. His last action came with the Ravens in 2020, when he started in place of Lamar Jackson due to the latter testing positive for COVID-19 but couldn’t finish the game due to a hamstring injury.
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