Jason Reid
Jason Reid
Columnist

Protecting Robert Griffin III is Washington Redskins offensive line’s mission

He missed the 2009 season, so the Redskins figured it would take time for Brown to rediscover his game. Not nearly this much time, though. Often the past two seasons, it was downright painful to watch Brown in pass protection.

Lacking a high draft pick to invest in a tackle and unexpectedly having less flexibility in free agency (nothing alters shopping plans quite like a league-imposed $18 million salary cap penalty), Redskins management is all in on Brown again. For his part, Brown has put in overtime to try and get his body right — or at least to feel a little better than he has in a long while.

Full coverage of Robert Griffin III

Full coverage of Robert Griffin III

A living archive of everything the Washington Post has published on Robert Griffin III — blog posts, articles, columns, photos and video.

Video

The Post Sports Live crew discusses the placement of Redskins’ rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III’s locker between veterans London Fletcher and Brian Orakpo.

The Post Sports Live crew discusses the placement of Redskins’ rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III’s locker between veterans London Fletcher and Brian Orakpo.

He remained in the area for supervised workouts at the team’s training complex. Brown also does yoga and Pilates in an effort to break up scar tissue that formed around his hip. “I definitely feel a difference,” Brown said.

Although Redskins coaches are realistic about Brown reverting to his pre-injury all-pro form, they need him to help keep Griffin upright. Brown definitely wants to try.

Brown believes a Griffin-inspired party is starting, and he wants to stick around for a while and enjoy it. “When you bring a guy like old Robbie [Griffin] in here . . . you can’t wait to block for him,” Brown said.

Left guard Kory Lichtensteiger missed all but five games last season after tearing his anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments, which is also known as the pro sports double-whammy. One of Shanahan’s favorite players on the roster (“He’s probably the best-in-shape lineman we have on our football team,” Shanahan said), Lichtensteiger has been held out of practices despite requesting to participate.

“If we played a game tomorrow he could play,” Shanahan said. “Is there a chance that something [a setback] could happen? Yeah, but there’s a chance of that at every position.”

Shanahan also had good things to say about center Will Montgomery (“He played exceptional last year”) and right guard Chris Chester (“Exactly the type of guy you’re looking for with what we do”). Willie Smith had some nice moments playing for the suspended Williams, and Tyler Polumbus wasn’t awful on a fill-in basis. Still, the Redskins gave up 41 sacks — tied for the 11th-highest total in the 32-team NFL.

Some argue that the elusive Griffin minimizes the importance of pass protection. After watching Griffin evade an all-out blitz and team with wide receiver Santana Moss on a practice-stopping touchdown Thursday, even the offensive line would agree.

“That makes our load a lot easier to have a great quarterback like that,” Williams said.

Possibly. But Griffin is facing a defense under instructions not to hit him. Soon, he’ll face a league full of defenses out to get him.

For Jason Reid’s previous columns, go to washingtonpost.com/reid.

Loading...

Comments

Add your comment
 
Read what others are saying About Badges