Griffin spoke with Jackson before his visit to Washington on Monday and said he got a sense of what the former Philadelphia Eagles star was all about. Griffin said Jackson was motivated by the memory of his late father, Bill Jackson.
\"I understand his drive and competitiveness to win,\" Griffin said in the text message. \"Always doing it for his dad and now doing it for this city... Our team and this city will be there for him.\"
Jackson took to Twitter on Tuesday night to express his excitement over joining the Redskins.
Since the end of a 3-13 season, the Redskins have added a quarterback-friendly coach in Jay Gruden and two new receivers. Washington signed Andre Roberts on the first day of free agency.
With Jackson's arrival, Roberts will likely play a lot in the slot. Washington also has promising young tight end Jordan Reed as well as receiver Pierre Garcon, who led the NFL with a franchise-record 113 catches last season.
Jackson provides the Redskins a dynamic receiver, one who can consistently threaten a defense deep. He also forces defenses to game plan to stop him. In theory, his presence should open the middle for Garcon, who excelled in this area two years ago.
Last season, the middle wasn't as open and the Redskins were forced to get Garcon the ball more on horizontal routes. Griffin, too, should be better after a full offseason of work rather than rehabbing his knee.
\"It's an exciting time to be a Redskin fan and a part of this team because the firepower that we have with all our guys,\" Griffin said in the text message. \"Everyone needs to understand that we haven't won anything yet and these next few months will be about building those bonds and chemistry so that we can.\"
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