Robert Griffin opens up on public spat with former coach Jay Gruden

Jay Gruden and Robert Griffin III were once head coach and quarterback for the Washington Commanders. Now, a public spat between the two on social media has many digging up old memories from the bad times during their partnership.

The heat began after the Philadelphia Eagles were struggling against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the playoff’s wild card round. Gruden took to social media to air his displeasure about how much Eagles QB Jalen Hurts was getting hit throughout the game. He said that “If I ever put a QB through what Philly is putting Jalen through, I apologize.” To which RG3 immediately reacted.

After a few more back-and-forth threads, RG3 has now reavealed an interesting story about his former head coach on his podcast.

“The truth of the matter is there was a moment in DC that is vividly remembered,” Griffin III began. “Everyone talked about it because Jay Gruden went to a press conference, and he undressed me at that press conference in a way that a coach should never undress his starting quarterback. One, he robs the starting quarterback of the ability to lead in the locker room. Two, he shows the entire locker room that he does not rock with that player. And three, it shows everyone in the National Football League that you do not want this guy to be your quarterback, i.e. Sean Payton with Russell Wilson.”

The reason why Gruden “undressed” RG3 was because of some comments Griffin III made at a previous press conference go his own. According to Griffin III, this happened in 2014 and after a game where he that the best players in the NFL have players around them who also play at a high level and that no one could experience success in the NFL on their own.

Those in the media at the time took that story to fit the narrative that RG3 had thrown his teammates under the bus, and Gruden jumped on that storyline with them. In reality, it was supposed to be a motivational tactic by Griffin III — but according to him, it was Gruden who told him to do it in the first place.

“Now, what hurt me about that was the fact that after I did that in the press conference, not only did Jay Gruden not have my back, but he actually burned me with it,” RG3 continued. “He came out the next day and burned me in the media. He came out the next day in a meeting in our team meeting room and burned me in front of my own teammates. … So I stood up on the stage and I apologized to my teammates for even what I believed was taken out of context.

“I took accountability for what I said and apologized to my teammates in the front of that team meeting. Now, Jay, knowing that he had asked me to do that, and still went to the media and tore me down.”

Having gone through what RG3 has experienced during his time as Gruden’s starting quarterback, when Gruden made his comments toward Jalen Hurts, RG3 took it personally and it escalated from there.

“It’s the fact that he has zero self awareness and zero integrity,” RG3 said. “Because even though he asked me to do something, he didn’t have the balls to have my back. And that was the reason that Jay Gruden wasn’t successful in Washington. It had nothing to do with me. We won the division title and almost every person in the locker room hated each other because attitude reflects leadership. So when you talk to me about Jay Gruden, understand that I haven’t talked about Jay — I haven’t talked about any coaches that have been there in a negative way — because I’ve moved on with my life.

“But if Jay wants to talk, we can talk and what you have to first do, Jay Gruden, is take accountability for what you did and what you didn’t do. So don’t come to me talking about all these sly shots when you’re the one who asked me to do something in the media that I haven’t talked about for almost 10 years. … Don’t play with me. I will absolutely end any credibility that you did have, let alone with that last name.”