Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III left Thursday’s preseason home opener victory against the Lions after suffering a stinger and what was later confirmed to be a concussion on a play early in the second quarter. The team can’t risk RGIII picking up a further injury and given his history it’s bound to happen again. “It’s possible he could play next week against Baltimore”.
Advertisement
Sure enough, Brandon Scherff was driven back into Griffin on a rush.
Gruden defended his decision to leave Griffin in for a fourth series.
“No”, he answered.
The coach added he “would imagine, depending how long” Griffin is out, “he’s still going to be our starter”. Washington Post reporter Jerry Brewer called it “quarterback abuse”. After the beating Griffin took, why did the coach send him out for that fourth series?
Griffin was hit a number of times in the team’s game against the Detroit Lions on Thursday, facing contact close to every time he dropped back. The only way for these guys to get better is to play. He’s following concussion protocol at this time.
The only significant injury from Thursday night was tight end Jordan Thompson who was having an MRI on Friday. He made the comments earlier that he felt he was the best quarterback in the game, which I am not offended by. Journeyman Willie Smith started in his place, but he allowed two sacks. They were 125/1 long shots last week, so somehow their odds have improved despite obvious question marks at quarterback and along the offensive line. Why was he even out there in the second quarter behind a group of lineman who weren’t getting their job done?
“It’s to get the blood flowing, get some of that lactic acid out before the day ends and go over a few mistakes, ” Caldwell said, “We had a lot of corrections to make”. ESPN’s Skip Bayless believes Gruden isn’t sold on No. 10. Zenner also hauled in five passes for 59 yards and one touchdown. For The Win’s Chris Chase asked. But then, defenses know that, and the Lions came after him with no feed of a counterpunch.
Advertisement
Griffin himself isn’t exempt from blame here. There is his size and struggle to pass in the pocket. “This is Game 2, so we’ve got a little ways to go yet”. When he did have time, he just didn’t look right. He fumbled twice. “You have to be smart about protecting yourself”. That’s probably a byproduct of the injuries he’s suffered over the past couple of years. At that point, it shouldn’t have been about trying to get something going, but about protecting him.
