ASHBURN, Va. - Jay Gruden said the the jury is still out on the Washington Redskins quarterback position. Robert Griffin III doesnt think that way at all.The coach also said his quarterbacks need to be thick-skinned and not let outside criticism get to them. Griffin, on Tuesday, turned two football questions into answers that referenced outside criticism.Griffins physical and mental performance will be hyper-analyzed over the final seven weeks of the season. He needs to stay healthy, and he needs to show the first-year coach that he can handle all of the other rigours of playing quarterback in the NFL.On Monday, Gruden said the jury is out at quarterback because hes started three players at the position. Griffin only just returned on Sunday after missing six games with a dislocated left ankle, a layoff that disrupted his efforts to learn to be more of a pocket-passer.Gruden said he feels good about Griffins progress to date, but there are things the team will have to find out about the third-year QB before the end of the season — after which the Redskins will have to decide whether to pick up an option year on Griffins contract.On Tuesday, however, before the players broke for a five-day bye-week vacation, Griffin said he doesnt view the rest of the season as a chance to prove hes definitively the franchise quarterback.When it comes to being the franchise guy, that is what it is. I believe that I am, Griffin said. I believe that this organization knows that I am, and I know those guys in the locker room believe that I am. Theres no doubt there, so I dont ever step onto the field trying to make a claim saying Im the guy. No, its not like that. This is my team and Im going to lead it.Asked about Grudens jury is still out remark, Griffin said he understands it because he hasnt had much of a chance to play for the coach because of the ankle injury.Availability is the key, Griffin said, so my job is to continue to go out there, get better each week, help this team win football games, and the rest will take care of itself.Griffin had a mixed performance in Sundays 29-26 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. He used his tremendous athleticism to extend plays, revived his ability as a running threat in the zone-read and led a pair of second-half scoring drives in a tight game.But he also took five sacks — more than Kirk Cousins or Colt McCoy took in any of their starts — and made two bad throws at inopportune times, one a momentum-turning interception and the other a short-armed toss that ended the Redskins final legitimate scoring threat.Gruden said Griffin still needs to get a better feel for the pocket to avoid the sacks, but Griffin said theres also some good that can happen when he holds onto the ball a little longer.I feel like I add an element to the game by being able to extend plays and make plays ... Sacks are a part of the game. You dont want to take many of them, and I always will work on that, Griffin said, but Im not going to limit myself out there on the field because I think thats a detriment to our offence if I take that part of my game out.Griffin has always displayed a sensitively to criticism of his play, something Gruden has mentioned more than once and cited again Monday. The outside pundits were clearly on Griffins mind Tuesday when he was asked if it was good to get in a game before the bye week.Instead of answering the question, Griffin sought to quash the notion that he shouldve waited until after the bye to return.For us to push that off to after the bye just because of outside opinion, I think is a disservice to this team, Griffin said, because we always want to have the best opportunity to win each week.Later, asked about his decision to slide on a third-and-20 run in the fourth quarter instead of fighting for the extra yards, Griffin said he wasnt contemplating public reaction as he made his way upfield.I wasnt thinking about what anybody else was going to say, he said. I just knew I was going to get molly-whopped if I tried to go for that first down.___AP NFL websites: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL___Follow Joseph White on Twitter: http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP Marshon Lattimore Saints Jersey . 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Amare Stoudemire had 22 points and 10 rebounds, Carmelo Anthony scored 21 and the New York Knicks won their eighth straight game, 93-92 over Philadelphia on Friday night, sending the Sixers to their 23rd straight loss.NEW YORK, N.Y. - Marcus Mariota wrote it all down, every word of his Heisman Trophy acceptance speech. It was a good thing, too, because getting through it might have been tougher than sprinting away from a linebacker or tossing a touchdown pass for Oregons understated star.The junior quarterback became the Ducks first Heisman winner going away Saturday night, capping a three-year climb to college footballs most prestigious individual award.Im humbled to be standing here today, Mariota said moments after he was announced as the winner.Mariota isnt a bigger talker, but he steadily worked through his speech, thanking his teammates, teachers, friends and his home state of Hawaii. He finally hit a snag when it came time to thank his mother and father. He needed to take two deep breaths and still he got choked up.I had to give thanks to so many people because where I am today, its all do to all those people, Mariota said later. Its hard not to get emotional. Its been a long journey. My emotions got the best of me.A pinpoint passer with wide-receiver speed, Mariota came into this season as the favourite to win the 80th Heisman and delivered a performance that turned the presentation ceremony at a theatre in Times Square into a foregone conclusion.Mariota had twice as many points (2,534) as second-place finisher Melvin Gordon (1,250), the record-breaking running back from Wisconsin. The other finalist, Alabama receiver Amari Cooper, was third.Mariota received the second-highest percentage of possible points (90.92) in Heisman history, behind only Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith, who had 91.63 in 2006. Southern California tailback Reggie Bush received 91.77 per cent of possible points in 2005, but his victory was later vacated for violating NCAA rules.Mariota, the first Hawaii native to win the Heisman, has accounted for a Pac-12-record 53 touchdowns (38 passing, 14 rushing and one receiving) while directing the Ducks warp-speed spread offence.In Hawaii, if one person is successful, the entire state is successful, he said, draped in leis at his news conference.It will be a matchup of Heisman-winning quarterbacks in the College Football Playoffs Rose Bowl semifinal Jan. 1 with Mariota and the Ducks facing Florida State and Jameis Winston.Im just looking forward to getting back on the field and playing again, Mariota said. We do have a teamm goal.ddddddddddddn an era when so many Heisman winners seemingly come from out of nowhere — the last two were the first freshmen winners — Mariotas rise was slow and steady.Three of the last four Heisman winners were in their first seasons as starters, including Cam Newton, who won the award in his only season at Auburn after transferring from a junior college. Before Newton, three straight sophomores won the award (Tim Tebow of Florida, Sam Bradford of Oklahoma and Mark Ingram of Alabama). Tebow was the first sophomore winner.Like Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel and Winston, the previous two winners, Mariota started as a redshirt freshman. It quickly established himself as a star, but unlike Johnny Football and Famous Jameis, Mariota wasnt the face of college football in his first season.In his second season he put up numbers that rivaled those of Heisman finalist quarterbacks Winston, Manziel, AJ McCarron and Jordan Lynch, but when it came time to vote for the Heisman, Mariota was forgotten. He didnt even finish in the top 10 in 2013.This season Mariota would not be ignored.He leads the nation in passer rating (186.2), is fifth in total offence (342.5 yards per game) and has led the Ducks to a Pac-12 title with a chance to play for their first national championship.Of course, patience and poise have defined Mariotas career. He didnt start for his high school team until he was a senior — then led Saint Louis in Honolulu to a state title.A quiet leader with a nice-guy reputation, Mariota brought no off-field baggage to this Heisman ceremony. After a season beset by off-field troubles, including a school hearing into sexual assault allegations, Winston wasnt a finalist this time around. He finished sixth.Oregons only Heisman finalists before Mariota were quarterback Joey Harrington in 2001 and running back LaMichael James in 2010.If you have your punch list of things as a program, the most iconic individual award would be the Heisman Trophy. But like Marcus said, I know hed trade all that to win as a team, Oregon coach Mark Helfrich said.For Harrington, Oregon, with Nikes help, put up a billboard in Times Square to promote their Heisman candidate.Oregon didnt need a billboard to get the word out about Mariota. His play provided all the publicity he needed___Follow Ralph D. Russo at www.Twitter.com/ralphDrusoAP ' ' '