The sports channels are giving hourly updates of Robert Griffin III's knee condition. That's how big the story is. It's gone national. It's gone viral. When you search images of "LCL sprain," you get Google hits on Robert Griffin III pictures.
Coach Mike Shanahan disclosed that RGIII has a Grade 1 LCL Sprain, with a "P." Hog Heaven found the description on MMARMedical.com the easiest to understand. Go there for the full story, but here are the highlights.
"Definition:
A lateral collateral ligament (LCL) sprain is an injury to the ligament on the outer surface of the knee joint.
"The LCL connects the femur (thighbone) and the tibia, the outer bone of the two shinbones. It is a strong narrow rope of fibers that supports the outside of the knee, limiting sideways movement and keeping the outer surfaces of the joint in close proximity to each other. Of the four main ligaments that stabilize the knee, the LCL is the least likely to be injured but when it is, other ligaments are often damaged at the same time.
"As with the other ligaments of the knee, sprains are graded according to the severity of the injury.
"Grade I:
The ligament has been stretched, causing microscopic tears in the fibers, but the joint is still stable."
Treatment for regular people is to stay off your feet to rest the knee. Elite athletes with games on Sunday want active rehab to restore mobility and treatment to manage the pain. Griffin could do in one or two weeks of rehabilitation what takes Hog Heaven readers four to eight weeks to do.
If Jim Harbaugh can be treated for an irregular heartbeat on Wednesday and work a full day Thursday, RGIII can will himself to play in Cleveland on Sunday.
Whether he should play is another question. Expect Mike Shanahan to be coy. It's how he rolls. The question gives the NFL Network and the others a foil to play on all week. Griffin III is as much an NFL marketing property as he is to the Redskins.
Griffin is more important to the Washington Redskins future than he would be on Sunday. The Redskins won its seventh game. That meets Hog Heaven's seasonal expectation. Everything from here is gravy.
Cleveland has an AFC North-worthy defense. We advise warn Redskins players and fans not to sleep on the Browns. I'll have more on the Browns later. Let's just say this is a trap game if ever there is one.
The game is in Cleveland in December in an outdoor stadium by a Great Lake. The long-range forecast calls for good football weather – 55° and dry. But, it's still December in Cleveland. Robert Griffin III lived in Texas and played college ball in Waco. Kirk Cousins played college ball in East Lansing. If weather is a factor, Cousins is the better cold weather quarterback.
The world will watch Griffin practice all week. I figure Coach Mike to play the "game time decision" card." Lets play along. No need to tip our hand to the Browns.
However, the quarterback who plays should be the one who is the most mobile Sunday.
The NFL Network will air a replay of the Ravens at Redskins game tonight, Tuesday, December 11, at 8:00 PM ET.
Images:
Torn LCL found on Google from here.
Kirk Cousins MSU Spartans from here.
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