EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen offered his opinion on Detroit Lions left tackle Greg Robinson on Wednesday.
"To be quite honest, (he's) kind of lazy," Griffen said. "He's lazy. He gets beat on the inside. I think the biggest thing is he just has to compete more. But yeah, he's pretty lazy. I think the rest of the offensive line, they do pretty well, but to me he's kind of lazy."
Griffen said his comments regarding Robinson weren't personal, and again referred to the word "lazy" to describe how he felt the left tackle played.
Since being selected No. 2 overall in the 2014 NFL Draft, Robinson has struggled.
Robinson, whom the Lions brought in via a trade in June after left tackle Taylor Decker underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum, had his fifth-year option declined by the Los Angeles Rams earlier in the offseason.
Since 2014, Robinson has been the most penalized player in the league, among all offensive and defensive players. According to ESPN Stats and Information, Robinson has been flagged 46 times since the start of 2014, which is seven more than any other player. Of those 46 flags, 30 were for offensive holding. No other player has been flagged more than 19 times for offensive holding since Robinson began his NFL career.
Through three games this season, Robinson has garnered four penalties for offensive holding, which is tied for the most in the NFL.
Sunday will be the third time Griffen and Robinson play against each other. The Vikings defensive end is tied for fourth in the NFL with four sacks, and looks to register his first against Robinson, who has low pass-blocking efficiency and struggles with timing of the snap.
When they faced off in 2015, Robinson played 70 snaps and didn't record any penalties, and Griffen did not register a sack. In 2014, Robinson played eight snaps against Minnesota. Griffen did record two sacks that game, but Robinson was not on the field for either.
According to Pro Football Focus, Robinson has never graded out higher than 41.3 in a season. He was benched twice in 2016 and allowed the 25th most pressures in the NFL with 40.
Detroit has the No. 19 passing attack in the NFL, averaging 219 yards per game and is slightly better in the run game, ranking 17th with 97 yards per game.
Through three games, Minnesota's defense is the third-best in the NFL at stopping the run, something Griffen emphasized the Vikings will need to do against Matthew Stafford's ability to make plays with his feet.
"Matt Stafford, he's running the ball a little bit more," Griffen said. "He's putting the ball down and running to get out. He's running a lot more so we need to rush him the right way, we need to stop the run, make them one-dimensional and we just have to keep on playing like we've been playing, eliminate the penalties and go out there and compete for four quarters. They're a fourth quarter team and we have to compete for four quarters."
Numbers don't lie there either. Stafford and the Lions totaled eight fourth-quarter comebacks in the 2016 season.