ASHBURN, Va. -- Robert Griffin III had enough of his words being twisted or taken a direction he had no desire to travel. So, during news conferences, the Redskins quarterback changed his tone. And on social media, once a landing spot for his phrases and sayings, he went silent.

Griffin said he is staying off Twitter and Facebook until after the season. In fact, he hasn't tweeted or posted anything on Facebook since Thanksgiving. His last action on Twitter was to retweet a picture with a fan to help raise awareness for ALS.

"Sometimes you don't understand certain things and they don't go the way you want them to go, but if I get criticized for retweeting about going to a charity event for a foundation, I mean what else can you do? So I decided to shut it down and not focus on it."

He also went bland in news conferences -- his "focus on San Francisco" before facing the 49ers last month serving as a prime example.

"It just felt like, for me, anything I was saying, whether it was positive or negative, whether it was a positive retweet or anything, was getting twisted and turned against me and against this team," he said. "I feel I can be free up here and talk to you guys, but sometimes things get twisted and turned and it creates a distraction for the team. I didn't want that to happen."

Griffin said he tries not to pay attention to the intense focus on him, whether it's trying to parse the meaning of his quotes or negative reaction from fans via social media.

"I played a game and then I was out for seven weeks and there was still a ton of noise," Griffin said. "Sometimes you don't understand certain things and they don't go the way you want them to go, but if I get criticized for retweeting about going to a charity event for a foundation, I mean what else can you do? So I decided to shut it down and not focus on it.

"It's not that I was focused on it before. I felt like I would cut out a little bit of it for me. I'm sure there is still a lot of noise out there, but I don't ever see it."