RGIII 'breaking windows' to prove he's coachable

Robert Griffin III was the subject of an article last month that painted the former Redskins quarterback as an often untrainable product under center.

"We tried to get him to slide," Griffin's former coach, Mike Shanahan, told TheUndefeated.com. "We tried to get him to throw the ball away."

Now under the watch of new Browns coach Hue Jackson, Griffin is out to prove he can grow. Mary Kay Cabot of The Plain Dealer reported Wednesday that RGIII recently "punctuated a slide by popping up and spinning the ball."

And that's not all:

"Just throwing it away," Griffin said Wednesday, when asked about his air assault on local households. "Coach asked me to work on those things. If he asked me to throw it away, I'm going to throw that thing as far as I can -- all the way away."

Griffin pointed to sliding and getting the ball away as "two of the things that I didn't practice enough" in Washington, saying: "That's why you see me breaking windows out there on the field."

Said Griffin: "I'm just being coachable. You have to practice the way you play. ... It seems funny throwing the ball over the fence, but it's just part of the process. You have to take everything into account."

The Browns would like to see more completions than shattered glass, but the young quarterback has the buy-in of Jackson, who told reporters Wednesday that RGIII"can do anything we ask him to do," per the Akron Beacon Journal.

Griffin also has the support of Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown, a team consultant who told NFL Network's Aditi Kinkhabwala: "When I found out (Jackson) wanted him, and they have a great relationship, I thought that was like money in the bank because this kid can play football. He's a good quarterback and if he has the same confidence of his coach, he's going to bring something to Cleveland that we haven't seen in a long time."

Brown went on to gush over Jackson, saying: "I'm very excited and very happy that he is here and I'm looking forward to great things. And I don't say that too often about too many people. ... When you see the players and the energy they exude and the attitude that they have, it's obvious that the only thing we have to do is to prove it by winning football games."

For all the newfound faith in Griffin, Jackson and the Browns haven't rushed to name him their starter. Cleveland's brass need to see RGIII get it done against more than air, but it's encouraging to see the former No. 2 overall pick back in the mix after his messy fall from grace with the 'Skins.