Robert Griffin III open to return to Washington Football Team: ‘If your guy goes down, make the call’

Robert Griffin III isn’t currently on an NFL roster, but that doesn’t mean that his NFL career is over. Griffin is still hoping that he will get a chance to play again.

“There’s a hunger in me that makes me want to continue to play,” Griffin said in an appearance on “The Adam Schefter Podcast.”

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Griffin wouldn’t rule out any destination if given an opportunity to return to the NFL. That includes going back to the team that drafted him, the Washington Football Team — if the team is open to re-signing him in wake of Ryan Fitzpatrick’s injury.

“Yeah, I mean it could, to be honest,” Griffin said when asked if signing with Washington could work. “But for me to go back to Washington…that would have to be something that coach Ron Rivera and the team would be open to. 

“You never say never, is what I would say. 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.”

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Griffin, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, was a star during his rookie season in Washington. He threw for 3,200 yards, 20 touchdowns and just five interceptions while completing 65.6 percent of his passes. He also added 815 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on the ground and led Washington to the playoffs. Unfortunately, he suffered a torn ACL in that playoff game and never quite regained his rookie-year form.

“I’ve always looked at the situation in Washington as just wrong place, wrong time,” Griffin said of that game. “The injury at the end of the 2012 season and the playoffs against Seattle. People will talk about that and say, ‘what if’ forever, if I ever go back.”

Though Griffin has only started two games in the last three seasons, he believes that he still has the skills needed to find success as a starter.

“I believe I would thrive in a system similar to the ones that [Ryan] Tannehill, [Russell] Wilson and [Kirk] Cousins have played in,” Griffin said.

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Griffin acknowledged that the success stories of veterans quarterbacks like Tannehill, Tyrod Taylor and Nick Foles have motivated him to an extent. And if he can get the same opportunity, he’s confident he can produce.

“When I see all these opportunities, guys maximizing [them] — Tyrod Taylor, right? [He] goes out, gets a chance to compete and boom, wins the job — that’s what I wanna get to,” Griffin said. “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’s awesome if next year I can get an opportunity to compete… I’m on board for that.

“I do firmly believe not only in my own ability but with my own wherewithal,” 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.”

Griffin hasn’t gotten a chance yet, so he will remain with ESPN for the time being. But if he gets the right opportunity, expect him to jump at it.