National Football League

Rams respond to RG3's 'dirty' remark

Published Sep. 20, 2012 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

The St. Louis Rams are brushing aside comments questioning their style of play by Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III.

Griffin told reporters Wednesday the Rams were ''dirty'' and ''unprofessional'' during their 31-28 victory on Sunday. He claimed he was hit after plays and in other unnecessary ways during the game.

''I remember one play,'' the Washington Redskins quarterback said. ''After the play, the guy said: `We're going to hit you every play.'

''I said: `Isn't this football?' It's nothing that I'm not used to. It was extremely weird the way they went about it, though.''

Sunday's 31-28 loss was barely over when the Redskins starting talking about replacement officials who had lost control and Rams players who were engaged in too much rough stuff after the whistle.

The Rams denied breaking any rules - aside from what the officials flagged - and said Griffin simply experienced an aggressive NFL defense.

Griffin is going to handle the ball a lot this year - he already had 20 rushes in addition to 55 pass attempts - so the Redskins don't want him taking any extra hits, especially ones that he feels aren't clean.

''There was some extracurricular stuff going on after the plays,'' Griffin said. ''They were doing a lot of dirty things. I still think they have an extremely good team, that doesn't take anything away from them, but the game was unprofessional. Who am I to talk? I've barely been a pro for very long, but from what I experienced against the Saints compared to that game, it was definitely unprofessional and it does need to be cleaned up.''

Griffin was sacked only once by the Rams, but he was knocked down several times.

''I don't want to tip-toe the lines of anything that's happened with bounties or anything like that, but they were definitely going after me,'' Griffin said. ''They made it a point, obviously, all week to hit me. Some of the shots were cheap of that nature. But it's nothing I can control. Teams are going to try to hit me because they don't think I can take a hit. I think I've proved over my career that I can.''

It's something the Redskins have to watch as they prepare for this week's game against the Cincinnati Bengals. The replacement officials are getting a reputation for letting players get away with more.

''You have to have people take control,'' coach Mike Shanahan said. ''And there wasn't any control in that game. Hopefully officials next week will take control. That's what you have to do as an official.''

Most of the St. Louis coaches and players said after Thursday's practice they are less concerned with Griffin's comments than preparing for Sunday's game at Chicago.

Coach Jeff Fisher said running back Steven Jackson (groin) will be a game-day decision.