NFL teams
John Keim, ESPN Staff Writer 10y

RG III report: A better day

RICHMOND, Va. -- Maybe it was just the weather after all. Or, maybe, it’s the typical training camp up-and-downs for a young quarterback. Regardless, Robert Griffin III -- and the offense in general -- looked much sharper Friday than it did the previous day.

Griffin, on a bright sunny day, was much sharper and his passes more on target. It’s not as if every pass was perfect, but he looked closer to the passer of 2012 than he did on Thursday. Even in his rookie season he missed on some throws.

But, just as he did that season, Griffin did a good job Friday of putting the ball where only his receivers had a chance to make a play, sometimes when his target was covered. That is what he did on a pass along the sidelines to Pierre Garcon, covered by David Amerson, and to tight end Logan Paulsen over the middle. On that play, Griffin led him just enough for him to avoid the defender and also give Paulsen a chance to run after the catch. Griffin made a similar throw to receiver Andre Roberts. Safety Ryan Clark was inside; Griffin threw it wide and allowed Roberts a chance to turn and run.

Griffin did miss a couple passes, usually high (one to DeSean Jackson was high, but also through the receiver’s hands). Griffin had more time to throw, too, and that enabled him to a couple times step up in the pocket and dump it to Garcon or tight end Jordan Reed.

Overall, Griffin was just more accurate. Even when he completed passes Thursday in the rain, his targets didn’t always have much chance to do much after the catch. Friday they did. And Griffin also was not in danger of having any passes intercepted -- none were even deflected.

Of course, the biggest cheer he received Friday? When he sprinted upfield after a bootleg run and slid on the still-wet turf.

But the ball was dry and the day was better for Griffin. He did say he liked going through Thursday’s experience.

“Usually on rain days you don’t run that amount of heavy pass plays,” Griffin said. “That’s no excuse, and it was a great day to have because we learned techniques on how to throw a wet ball.”

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