Picture Robert Griffin III as a mild-mannered reporter for the local newspaper who has a big burgundy “R” under his shirt. I can see that because Dr. James Andrews as much as called RGIII Superman on a recent ESPN show.
"RGIII is one those superhumans. First patient I ever had like that was Bo Jackson. And recently I, of course, had Adrian Peterson, who is also superhuman. They have an unbelievable ability to recover, whereas a normal human being may not be able to recover."
Bo Jackson and Adrian Peterson are athletic phenomena. Hog Heaven won’t let emotion to get ahead of him. We’ll wait to see Griffin III in action before any joy jumping. But Andrews is in a position to know and he is not expressing caution. It counts for something; we just don’t know what yet.
We need to see Griffin play for the answer to the great question, should he have played in the second half of the Seahawks playoff game? Head coach Mike Shanahan came under fire for risking the future of Redskins football in that game. We are of the camp that says Shanahan should have benched Griffin after the first series of the half.
Shanahan saw Griffin up close and made the call. He too saw a little Bo Jackson in him. If RGIII returns to his starting role by October, then Shanahan’s gamble was an acceptable risk. It would be another remarkable accomplishment by a remarkable player.
That’s not to say it was Shanahan’s best decision. By the second half, it was clear that Griffin did not give the Redskins the best chance to win, despite his protests otherwise. Kirk Cousins was more able physically at that point. That was evident to everyone but the coach and player.
The Redskins earlier beat eventual Super Bowl champion Baltimore using Cousins under similar circumstances. Cousins would have made a stronger argument for himself by better play. He might have done so with more first team practice reps leading up to the playoff game. Coaches loath taking reps away from starters.
I understand the logic, but any idiot blogger (ahem) could have kept doing what we always do. Paid professionals are supposed to see the change needed and then make that change.
It was a quandary for Shanahan. He made the decisions. Things turned out as they did. The Redskins could not cope with the loss of Griffin because they did nothing the week before to hedge the risk.
Griffin would not have started against Atlanta the following week anyway and Shanahan has already said Cousins will take all the preseason first team snaps this year. Griffin will not start until he is 100 percent says the coach.
Finally, the Shanny is tapping his inner Bo.
Fred Davis has seen Griffin.
“He definitely looks really good,” Davis said of RG3. “You can barely even tell that he’s hurt. He’s doing every drill. He looks comfortable and normal to me. When he first got back, I was surprised, like, ‘Did you just have surgery?’
“He works hard,” Davis added. “Whenever he says he’s going to do something, he’s going to do it. I believe that he’ll be back sooner than people expect.”
Davis is recovering from an Achilles injury that ended his season early last year. He says he is a bit ahead of schedule on his rehab.
Redskins’ faithful are anxious that Davis remains unsigned. That’s a good sign, actually. In the old days, the team would have abused the salary cap by now and let the future take care of itself. But these guys – Mike Shanahan and Bruce Allen – gauge the value of a player and put a market-based offer on the table.
Davis can go shop the market, but if Shanallenhan pegged it right, he will find the ‘Skins offer attractive, if only because differences from another team won’t compensate him for the career risk of playing in an unfamiliar offense. It won’t compensate for separation from RGIII, either.
The front office went through this with London Fletcher last season and Fletcher re-signed with Washington. It’s how smart teams operate. This is a good process. Get used to it.
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