

Robert Griffin III and Coach Jay Gruden saw a winnable game get away from them in Minnesota. (John McDonnel/The Washington Post)

A week that got off to a tumultuous start at Redskins Park, with Coach Jay Gruden laying bare every shortcoming in quarterback Robert Griffin III’s repertoire, came to an uneventful conclusion Friday.

Griffin has had a good week of practice, according to Gruden and offensive coordinator Sean McVay, tuning out distractions and making progress on the field as Washington (3-7) prepared for a cross-country trip and Sunday’s meeting with San Francisco (6-4).

The key question, Gruden said, is whether Griffin can translate those strides to Sunday’s game, in which he’ll face the NFL’s fourth-ranked pass defense.

“They are very good at what they do, and that’s rush the passer when they get you in third down,” Gruden said of San Francisco’s defense. “The whole thing about offensive football — no matter where you are, whether it’s here or anywhere you go — it’s about rhythm, it’s about precision, it’s about accuracy and making good, sound decisions. And if the pocket breaks down, that’s where you’ve got to use your athleticism and good decisions or throw it away.

“Hopefully Robert will make good decisions come Sunday because there will be times where everything is not going to be perfect, and he is going to make a decision — either abort ship, or get the ball out of his hands, throw it away and not take a negative play.”

Griffin was intercepted twice in Sunday’s 27-7 loss to Tampa Bay. While the first wasn’t his fault, on the second, he telegraphed his intent by staring down his would-be receiver.

Griffin’s six sacks were equally distressing to Gruden. Though the blocking wasn’t up to par on some of the plays, too many of the sacks were a result of the third-year quarterback’s indecision or refusal to make his throw quickly enough.

Griffin’s on-field struggles quickly mushroomed into off-the-field controversy following a regrettable post-game comment in which he appeared to blame his teammates, which wasn’t his intent. Then came Gruden’s withering public critique of Griffin’s fundamentals the next day.

“Certainly there has been a lot of distractions for him,” McVay said of Griffin after Friday’s 90-minute practice, “but I think he has done a good job kind of blocking everything out and just focusing on the things he can control, and that’s improving with the fundamentals, executing the game-plan plays we have.”

Said Gruden: “He makes progress in practice, no question. He doesn’t make every read perfect, and sometimes you’ve got to rep something again to make sure everything is right. But it’s just part of playing the position.

“And then comes game day. You script a certain play against a certain coverage in practice, but on game day you might get something totally different where you have to adjust.”