RG3 tries to draw penalties on sideline runs

ESPN is reporting that Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III admitted Wednesday that there will be times when he tries to bait defensive players into drawing personal foul penalties as he runs out of bounds.

Griffin tries to time when he steps out of bounds to so that he will be hit late by the defensive player, who will then incur a 15-yard penalty.

According to Griffin, via ESPN:

There will be situations, and that’s why guys don’t want to pull up. It’s happened in the past with Michael Vick or someone like that who has run to the sidelines, stopped and then gotten 20 more yards because the guy runs out of bounds trying not to hit the quarterback.

It seems somewhat odd that Griffin, whose offseason spent recovering from an injury, would specifically try to bait defenses into hitting him late, which could result in further injuries. It also appears that the tactic has yet to work.

Griffin says that he was not trying to bait Dallas Cowboys Barry Church on his two late hits on Griffin Sunday.

He also said that he tried to draw a late hit from Detroit Lions defensive back Rashean Mathis, but it didn’t work, per ESPN:

"He’s a smart player; he didn’t hit me. I kind of stopped well inside in bounds to try to get him to hit me and he didn’t. He said, ‘I’m not taking that penalty, Griff.’ I said, ‘I got you, man.’With Barry, it was more I was out of bounds. I didn’t slow down at all. … He hit me and it does suck, but some guys are going to take those penalties. It’s hard to walk that line, and you’ve always got to try to protect yourself. … The sideline is your friend and you can get out of bounds, but a lot of defensive players, they just really don’t care. Sometimes they’re going to still get that hit on you."

Perhaps Griffin should spend some more time trying to get back to his 2012 playing form, rather than talking about baiting people into fouls that no one has fallen for and could lead to another injury.