Washington Redskins linebacker London Fletcher believes that quarterback Robert Griffin III should use the time away from the game for self-reflection.

Griffin has been dropped from the starting lineup in favour of Kirk Cousins for the rest of the season due to a series of poor performances and has been a shadow of the player seen in the 2012 season.

"There are a lot of people that pulls and tugs at him, but I think really this a time for him to just kind of exhale," Fletcher told the Washington Post.

"If you look at it at the end of the year, he hurt himself, he didn't have a chance to really exhale.

"This is a time for him to exhale, take a step back, re-evaluate different things and say, 'Hey, what do I need to get to be the player that he knows he can, be the player that everybody knows he can be?' That would be my advice for him."

Washington face the Dallas Cowboys in their week 16 clash.