Upon closer review, Washington Redskins head coach Jay Gruden still wants to see improvement from quarterback Robert Griffin III.

“The jury is still out on that position,” Gruden said. “We feel good about Robert’s progress so far and we’ve just got to continue to build and see how he does from week to week. Hopefully we can see that here at the end of the season. That’s what we have to see and what we have to find out.”

Griffin missed six games with a dislocated ankle and didn’t show much rust early in the game, completing six of his first seven passes. But he was 12 of 18 the rest of the game and responsible for a few of the five sacks, most of which came as a result of pressure right up the middle, where Griffin should sense — if not see — the defenders closing.

“You’ve got to have a clock in your head as a quarterback and sometimes he gets locked in somewhere and by the time he comes off to his secondary receiver, he feels the pocket closing in on him and doesn’t have time to move,” Gruden said. “We can help him. The line can help him a little bit. I can help him with the drops to maybe get it out quicker. But for the most part he’s just got to continue to play and learn that and play with that feel in the pocket.”

Griffin did hold up behind often-porous protection. He produced a respectable 90.0 passer rating while teaming with big-play receiver DeSean Jackson and resurgent running back Alfred Morris to score the Redskins’ most points in six weeks.

Griffin did throw an interception with 59 seconds left in the first half and Washington leading 10-0, but that mistake didn’t cause the previously somnolent Minnesota offense to need just four subsequent plays to drive 46 yards for the touchdown.