Robert Griffin III recalls 'awkward' experience sharing a QB room with Joe Flacco, Lamar Jackson

It can be easy to forget that Robert Griffin III was in the same locker room as Joe Flacco and Lamar Jackson. But for one season, those three players shared a quarterback room, and apparently it wasn’t always the most comfortable setting.

In an episode of RG3 and The Ones, Griffin reflected on his three seasons in Baltimore, particularly the 2018 campaign spent with Flacco — an 11-year veteran with the Ravens — and Jackson — the rookie out of Louisville.

Griffin says he was brought to Baltimore to help mentor Jackson during his rookie year. He said, at first, things were a little bumpy.

“For me as a quarterback in the room with Joe and Lamar, it was awkward. Let’s just call it what it was,” Griffin said. “Joe was a Super Bowl-winning quarterback for the Ravens, went on one of the most unbelievable postseason runs we’ve ever seen at the quarterback position to go win that Super Bowl. And Joe did it in a contract year. …

“So, they drafted Lamar. They brought me in to be in that room, at first, with Joe. And then they drafted Lamar, and really, kept me there to help be a mentor for Lamar Jackson.”

Griffin, who had spent four seasons with the Commanders and one with the Browns, said that Flacco implemented a “lead by example” type of leadership. Griffin, himself, was more hands on in the process.

“But for him and Lamar, it was more of learn from my example,” he said. “There’s a viral clip that was going around in 2018, this was Lamar’s rookie year. It was me and Joe on the sideline, coaching Lamar up about a certain throw and when to make that certain throw. … And in that moment, Joe started teaching Lamar things there on the sideline that I was like, ‘Oh, we’re really gonna go somewhere now.’ Because that was the first moment that our entire room was on the same page of we gotta help Lamar do everything he needs to do to help us win games, and it’s not about self in that moment.'”

Just one year later, the tutelage paid off. Jackson earned the league’s MVP honors in 2019 as the team’s starting quarterback. Griffin was still on the sidelines in Baltimore while Flacco played for the Broncos that season.

Griffin called Jackson’s MVP award one of the most satisfying moments in his career.

“One of my greatest accomplishments as an NFL player wasn’t us (Washington) winning the division in 2012, or being Rookie of the Year or being a Pro Bowl QB,” he said. “One of my biggest accomplishments was, in 2019, when Lamar Jackson won MVP. And I got to be part of that.”