Jay Gruden plans to be 'honest and open' with Robert Griffin III in Washington

Robert Griffin III (top) butted heads with former head coach Mike Shanahan at the end of last season. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

The Washington Redskins' 2013 season ended on a sour note, with a strained relationship between head coach Mike Shanahan and star quarterback Robert Griffin III stealing headlines. Shanahan was fired after the season and the Redskins hired former Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Jay Gruden to replace him. Already, Gruden is working to gain his quarterback's trust.

While discussing what his approach with Griffin would be, Gruden said that his plan was simply to be straightforward with Griffin.

“Um, just try to be honest and open with him and not do things behind his back,” Redskins coach Jay Gruden said, via Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post. “I don’t know what happened last year with coach Shanahan and him, and where the relationship went south, or if it did, or maybe the media blew it up.

“But he’s [Shanahan] obviously not here anymore. Now it’s my job to get the most out of Robert. And I honestly believe that there has to be an open relationship between quarterback and coach/playcaller, to have the comfort level where he can come in and say, Hey, I honestly don’t like this play, I don’t feel good about it. Or can we run more of this. Or whatever it is. There has to be an open communication for the quarterback to be the most successful. And I welcome that type of atmosphere. Hopefully it will work out.”