Where: Cleveland Browns Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

When: Sunday, Dec. 16 at 1 p.m. ET

Watch: Fox5 WTTG

Radio:  SportsTalk 980 WTEM

Point Spread: Washington (-1)

The suddenly white-hot Redskins (7-6) roll into Cleveland (5-8) seeking their fifth straight victory. The Browns have found success of late as well, winners of three straight. The main and seemingly only topic of discussion surrounding the contest is the health of Washington rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III. RG3's health has seemingly improved daily, but his availability will almost certainly be a game time decision. The game features arguably the two best rookie running backs in the NFL in Alfred Morris of Washington and Cleveland's Trent Richardson.

Thursday afternoon RG3 update (via rotoworld)

The Redskins have yet to practice at full speed this week, so Shanahan hasn't seen Griffin truly test the knee. The biggest factors in the decision to play Griffin will be his ability to protect himself and the risk of reinjury. Shanahan believes Griffin will show he can move well enough to play, but acknowledges the final call will be made by the medical staff. The Redskins won't know whether they will have to alter their play-calling and concepts to suit a more limited RGIII until this weekend. Griffin was limited again in Thursday's practice, though coach Mike Shanahan said he was better than Wednesday. He's expected to be a game-time decision.

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NOTES

REDSKINS: Rookie QB ROBERT GRIFFIN III has won past 4 starts. Aims for 5th in row with 100+ rating. In past 4, has 10 TDs vs. 1 INT for 134.7 rating. Has 748 rush yards, most by rookie QB in NFL history. Is 1st QB in NFL history with 4+ TD passes of 60+ yards & rush TD of 60+ yards in season. In 6 road games, has 106.6 rating & 13 TDs (10 pass, 3 rush). Rookie QB KIRK COUSINS tied game last week with TD pass & 2 pt conversion with 0:29 remaining…RB ALFRED MORRIS is 2nd among rookies with 1,228 rush yards. Rushed for 122 yards & TD last week. Aims for 4th in row with 100+ rush yards. Has 75+ rush yards in 11 of 13 games (6 100s). In 6 road games, has 590 rush yards (98.3 per game) & 4 TDs…WR PIERRE GARCON aims for 4th in row with TD & 85+ yards. WR SANTANA MOSS has 5 TDs in past 7. Had TD in last game vs. Cle…LB LONDON FLETCHER has INT in 2 of past 3. CB DE ANGELO HALL has INT in 2 of past 4. Since 2011, LB RYAN KERRIGAN is only NFL player with 10+ sacks (14) & 2+ INT-TDs (2)…BROWNS: Seek 4th straight win. Have won 4 of past 5 at home. Are 17-6 (.739) all-time at home vs. Was…QB BRANDON WEEDEN (5) has most wins ever by Browns rookie QB. In past 2 vs. NFC, has 4 TDs vs. 2 INTs & 89 rating. Weeden (3,037) has most pass yards by rookie in club history…RB TRENT RICHARDSON is tied with HOFer JIM BROWN (9 in 1957) for most rush TDs by Browns rookie. Has 3 games with 100+ rush yards, tied for most ever by Browns rookie. Leads AFC rookies with 869 rush yards & needs 73 to surpass Brown (942) for most rush yards by Browns rookie…WR JOSH GORDON leads NFL rookies in rec. yards (732). Has 14 rec. for 202 yards with TD in past 2…LB D’QWELL JACKSON has team-high 97 tackles…DE JUQUA PARKER has 3 sacks in past 4…K PHIL DAWSON has made 26 of 27 FGs in 2012, 2nd-best pct. in NFL…Rookie PR TRAVIS BENJAMIN had 93-yard PR-TD last week, longest in Browns history.

For more on the Redskins visit to Cleveland- CONTINUE READING

The reports from Washington Redskins practice today are guardedly optimistic.  Robert Griffin III did take to the field for practice and had no difficulty walking up and down stairs and was able to plant and throw.  Good signs for the Redskins and RGIII. 

Still, no word on RGIII's status.  When asked about his ability to play, RGIII stated that his teammates told him to not try and play if he can't.  Apparently, instead of resting, he showed up at practice to show his teammates he is doing much better.  He did say that he believes his chances of playing on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns has improved. 

Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan did say after practice that Griffin was limited, but added that he was impressed with what he did in practice and how he worked at practice.  Shanahan added that no decision on Griffin's status for Sunday has been determined. 

Other Injuries:  Lt Trent Williams was limited at practice.  LB London Fletcher did not practice. Fletcher is still hobbled by a sore ankle.  Shanahan also added that although WR Pierre Garcon was receiving medical treatment, he was a full participant at practice.  

(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Who played well and who needs to do better for the Redskins offense against the Ravens? Check out Redskins Report Card for the answer. 

Will Robert Griffin III play against Cleveland on Sunday? We've got an update. Mike Wise writes that he should not play. But RG2 says RG3 will play.

The Redskins are feeling good about themselves and thinking playoffs.

Mike Shanahan likes the way rookie CB/PR Richard Crawford makes a quick decision and gets up the field on punt returns. 

Legendary former head coach Joe Gibbs likes what he sees in the 2012 Redskins.

Rich Tandler does not think the Browns game is a "trap" that the Redskins will fall into.

John Keim asks and answers five questions about the Skins going into this week, including whether or not they can win without RG3 this Sunday.

Yes. Cousins will be prepared and has shown that he won't get overwhelmed by the situation. It would change their offense as it's hard to imagine Cousins running the zone read, certainly not as much as Griffin. The key for Cousins will be not getting overaggressive with his throws.

PK Kai Forbath responds to critics not happy with the distance of his kickoffs.

RG3 gets noticed in the British press.

After reviewing the film of the Redskins-Ravens week 14 game several times, I hand out the following class grades to the Redskins offense. 

LT Trent Williams was almost unstoppable last Sunday. [Photo - US Presswire]

HEAD OF THE CLASS

Trent Williams. It was an odd day for the Redskins offensive line, with great run blocking, but poor pass blocking. That wasn't the case for Williams, though. He was solid against the pass, as he almost alway is, and completely dominant in the run game, consistently moving aside his man and getting to the second level to clear a path for Alfred Morris. Like all the offensive linemen, Williams stayed away from penalties and was strong in the running game -- though Williams was the best of the bunch -- but he also did a good job protecting the quarterbacks. He did give up three hurries and he wasn't perfect, but it is clear Williams is playing at a very high level through the pain of his deep thigh bruise. Though he will probably be passed over by Pro Bowl voters, Williams is as good as any left tackle in the NFL right now. 

A-STUDENTS

Chris Chester. He gave up a sack and a hurry, but was otherwise quite strong in pass protection, the only lineman apart from Williams to do a decent job protecting the quarterback. In the running game he was fantastic, perhaps even better than Williams in that regard. The Redskins ran five times for 30 yards [6.0] over Chester and when the Skins ran between Chester and Montgomery they gained 48 yards on 5 carries [9.8]. That's fantastic production running behind Chester and a major reason why he had such a good game. 

Kirk Cousins. He was very productive in limited action and with almost no warmup time. Cousins threw three passes and each was successful. His first pass yielded a first down due to defensive pass interference. His second pass was a 15-yard completion to Leonard Hankerson in the middle of the field that set the ball up on the 11 yard line. His third pass was an 11-yard TD to Pierre Garcon. On his one running play, Cousins snuck up the middle and scored two points to tie the game with less than 30 seconds to play. Cousins was not asked to win the game in overtime -- that was left to the special teams -- but what he did do he did flawlessly. 

Robert Griffin III. He didn't have his best game, but he did play very well, avoided turnovers and negative plays, and threw another TD pass. He showed his toughness by trying to play through a knee injury. Griffin was under pressure much of the day, but he actually had a higher passer rating under pressure than when he had plenty of time, though he as effective in those situations, too. As usual, Griffin was extremely accurate and effective when throwing the ball over the middle. 

Alfred Morris. Another big day for Morris, who rushed for 122 yards on 23 carries [5.3]. Even more impressive is that he gained over 76% of those yards after contact, demonstrating yet again what a tough runner he is. He made 7 tacklers miss and was particularly effective in shaking defenders when running up the middle. The one bad mark on Morris' report card this week is the same as last weekk -- a costly fumble. If Morris can conquer his fumbling issues -- and he is working on it now -- there will be almost no holes in his game. 

PASS

OG Kory Lichtensteiger, WR Pierre Garcon, C Will Montgomery, WR Joshua Morgan, FB Darrel Young

MUST DO BETTER

Tyler Polumbus. Did a nice job blocking for the run -- as did every lineman on Sunday. He gave up a sack and five hurries, the most of any lineman. He got beaten badly to the outside by Paul Kruger, which led to the sack and he seemed to have trouble most of the day. 

Santana Moss. He had a beautiful 60-yard pass from RG3 bounce off his shoulder pads. Not acceptable.

FAIL 

Logan Paulsen. His run blocking was fine, but he committed another penalty, dropped a pass and gave up three QB hurries. The offense would really take off with a good tight end like Fred Davis. 

Andy Pollin and Steve Czaban, the two hosts of ESPN 980 radio's afternoon "Sports Reporters" program were suspended, perhaps for two days, for an on-air homophobic rant against a transgender college basketball player, Gabrielle Ludwig, recently profiled in a USA Today story. 

You can listen to the entire segement, which included college basketball analyst Chris Knoche, at the bottom of this article. If you're not inclined to listen to the segment, which took place last week, I'll summarize. 

Pollin, Czaban and Knoche mocked Ludwig for her appearance, said transgender people should not be playing competitive sports and referred to Ludwig as "it." 

ESPN 980, as the name implies, is an affiliate of ESPN, but not owned by the company. The radio station is actually owned by Red Zebra Broadcasting, which is owned in part by Washington Redskins majority owner Dan Snyder. Nevertheless, ESPN moved quickly to dis-associate itself from Pollin and Czaban, releasing this statement: 

“The two are not employees of ESPN and made the comments on an affiliated radio station that controls its own local content. The offensive commentary goes completely against ESPN’s company culture and values.  We have expressed our significant dissatisfaction to the station’s management.”

ESPN 980's VP of Programming, Chuck Sapienza, released this statement: 

“We strongly believe two of our employees crossed the line when they referred to Ms. Ludwig as “it” on their program last Thursday. Such intolerance and insensitivity will never be tolerated by this company. This situation was handled swiftly and internally. Due to the nature of their contracts, we are not at liberty to publicly discuss any actions that were taken.”

Looks like the punishment is a two-day suspension, which began today. 

Pollin began Monday's show with an apology for the homophobic comments, saying nobody should be called an "It." 

I'm sure many defenders of Pollin and Czaban will say this is political correctness run amok. Actually, it's nastiness and bad manners being punished properly. It's fine with me if Pollin and Czaban oppose permitting transgender people from playing in competitive sports. I don't necessarily agree with that viewpoint, but it's a legitimate position to hold if you can justify the need for discrimination -- which is not and should not be easy. But the mockery of Ludwig's appearance and dehumanizing her by denying her a proper pronoun, was callous and rude. This isn't about political correctness, it's about good manners and respect for other human beings. 

It's also about capitalism. Gay men, lesbians and transgender people have money and many of them follow sports and spend their disposable income on sports. It is quite obviously in the interest of a sports radio station to attract as many listeners as possible, the largest audience they can. On-air employees who alienate that part of their audience -- and the part of the audience that is not gay, lesbian or transgender, but, like me, believe all people deserve to be treated with respect -- are usually in line for some sort of discipline. It used to be there was money to be made in bigotry and intolerance. Now, happily, it seems there is more money to be made in tolerance, decency and respect. If you have a problem with that, you have a problem with the free market. That's your prerogative, of course, but don't be surprised if you find that the invisible hand has given you a not-so-invisible middle finger. 

The recovery of Robert Griffin III is the biggest news in Washington, bigger even than the looming "Fiscal Cliff". RG3 suffering a mild, or Grade 1, sprain of the lateral collateral ligament located on the outside of the knee, during the Redskins win over Baltimore on Sunday.

Buffalo running back Fred Jackson suffered a similar injury early this season and missed two weeks. Independent doctors have indicated that playing Griffin too soon could be a big mistake.

Fortunately for the Redskins they have Kirk Cousins. The Redskins next two games are on the road, in Cleveland and in Philadelphia. Without a doubt, coach Mike Shanahan will give every indication that RG3 "may" play against the Browns and Eagles, but that is mainly to make the opponents prepare for both quarterbacks.

"Both of them will have a game plan," Shanahan said Monday.

Speed and agility is a major part of Griffin's game and bringing him back too early may risk the long term in favor of the short term. Don't be surprised if the franchise isn't back before the Dallas season ending game at Fed Ex Field.

UPDATE: Griffin's father tells USA Today this afternoon that his son will start on Sunday in Cleveland.

"He's doing great,'' Robert Griffin II told USA TODAY Sports. "He definitely said he plans to start. I haven't seen him (the last two days). But he told me (today) everything has gone well.''

Earlier today on ESPN Sportscenter, receiver Pierre Garcon was Live on the set and said Kirk Cousins would be under center in Cleveland.

December

• 15: Most players that signed new contracts this offseason (on or before September 15th) can be traded.

January

• 5: Teams can begin signing players to 10-day contracts.
• 10: Players on non-guaranteed contracts have their contracts guaranteed for the remainder of the season. Players must clear waivers by this date to avoid having their deals guaranteed.
• 15: Players with Bird or Early Bird rights that re-signed with their own over-the-cap team (on or before October 15th) and received at least at 20% raise can be traded.
• 15: Last day teams can apply for disabled player exceptions.

February

• 21: Trade deadline.

March

• 1: Players released after this date are ineligible for the postseason if they sign with a new team.
• 10: Disabled player exceptions expire.

April

• 17: Last day of regular season. Last day players can sign contracts for 2012/13. Luxury tax figures are determined using team salary on this day.

Redskins TB Alfred Morris is a candidate for Rookie of the Week. I don't think he has much of a chance -- David Wilson of the Giants should have a lock on it, I'd think -- but go vote for Morris anyway. You can be sure New York/Jersey will turn out for Wilson.

Where do the Redskins rank among the 32 NFL teams? Find out by reading The World's Most Prestigious Power Poll: Week 15, which ranks all the teams, without fear or favor, from first to worst.

As we told you yesterday, RG3 has a "mild sprain" of his LCL ligament in his right knee. Head coach Mike Shanahan calls it a "class 1" sprain of the knee. 

How does Robert Griffin III stack up with all the other rookie quarterbacks? Find out by reading our week 14 edition of Tracking the Rookie Quarterbacks.

Tom Brady gets a few laughs by comparing himself to RG3.

WR Pierre Garcon was on ESPN earlier this morning and said backup QB Kirk Cousins would be starting against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. I don't know if that's true or not or if Garcon is in a position to know such a thing right now, but him saying so won't sit well with Mike Shanahan. As Rick Snider notes: 

It's the best part of your week -- the return of The World's Most Prestigious Power Poll! With less than one month to go in the regular season and the playoff picture up in the air, who can explain what's going on to the huddled masses yearning for comprehension? Only The World's Most Prestigious Power Poll. Read and be enlightened...

01. New England Patriots [10-3]: The AFC still belongs to them until someone proves different. [+1]

02. Denver Broncos [10-3]: 8 straight wins. Any Broncos fans out there still pining for Tim Tebow? [+1]

03. Houston Texans [11-2]: Very good on Sunday, but quite literally not ready for prime time. [-2]

04. San Francisco 49ers [9-3-1]: Went to Miami for business, not pleasure -- but got both. [+1]

05. Atlanta Falcons [11-2]: I've called them poseurs and getting dominated by the Panthers doesn't convince me I'm wrong. [-1]

06. New York Giants [8-5]: You never know which Giants team you will see from week to week. The rest of the NFL better hope the Giants team they saw on Sunday doesn't stick around for long. [NC]

07. Green Bay Packers [9-4]: A win over the Bears in Chicago should sew up the division. [NC]

08. Seattle Seahawks [8-5]: 'bout time the east coast media discovered this rapidly-rising team. [NC]

09. Washington Redskins [7-6]: Who else has 2 rookies at QB -- and can win with either one? [+4] 

10. Baltimore Ravens [9-4]: Defense gave up 31 points to 2 rookie quarterbacks so they fired the offensive coordinator. Getting healthy will help. [+2]

AP PHOTO

11. Chicago Bears [8-5]: Last week I wrote: Fail every big test they face. Will that continue? Answer: Yes. They've lost 4 of 5. [-2]

12. Pittsburgh Steelers [7-6]: Have now lost to the Raiders, Titans & Chargers. You'll find those teams near the bottom of this list. [-2]

13. Dallas Cowboys [7-6]: A week of tragedy ends with a come-from-behind win on the road. In trouble if they lose Dez. [+2]

14. Indianapolis Colts [9-4]: Numbers rarely look good but they keep winning -- usually with help from their opponent. [+2]

15. Cincinnati Bengals [7-6]: Cannot lose at home with a 9-point lead in the 4th quarter. [-3]

16. Tampa Bay Buccaneers [6-7]: Built record on beating bad teams. Now they can't even do that. [-2]

17. New Orleans Saints [5-8]: Season-long experiment playing without defense or special teams officially a failure. [NC] 

18. St. Louis Rams [6-6-1]: Still clinging to playoff hope thanks to good division & conference record. [NC]

19. Cleveland Browns [5-8]: Young team has won 3 in a row & now gets a shot at another young team -- the Redskins. [+1]

Hannah Foslien/Getty Images North America

20. San Diego Chargers [5-8]: It's December & the Chargers are out of the playoff race. Which means they start playing their best ball. [+1]

21. Minnesota Vikings [7-6]: Adrian Peterson has more rushing  yards in last 7 weeks than Christian Ponder has passing yards. That's because A.P is great and Ponder is... not. [+1] 

22. Miami Dolphins [5-8]: Have now lost 5 of their last 6. [-3]

23. Carolina Panthers [4-9]: Lost to the worst team last week [Chiefs], beat one of the best this week [Falcons]. Panthers are weird. [+3]

24. Detroit Lions [4-9]: Will anyone be held accountable for this fiasco of a season? [NC]

25. New York Jets [6-7]: Debut of new no-QB offense a success against Jaguars, but how will it fare against an NFL team? [NC]

26. Buffalo Bills [5-8]: Ryan Fitzpatrick finally isn't awful and they lose anyway. [-3]

27. Philadelphia Eagles [4-9]: Congats to Nick Foles, who led a very gutsy come-from-behind win in Tampa. [NC]

28. Tennessee Titans [4-9]: Choking rats had the Colts down and let it slip away. Couldn't even figure out down & distance. [NC]

29. Jacksonville Jaguars [2-11]: Need a new quarterback -- and A LOT of other stuff. [NC] 

30. Oakland Raiders [3-10]: Defensive game plan against Broncos relied on Peyton Manning voodoo dolls. [NC]

31. Kansas City Chiefs [2-11]: I have one piece of good news for the Chiefs: At least you're not the... [+1]

32. Arizona Cardinals [4-9]: Owner should fire everyone -- including himself. [-1]

The presence of Robert Griffin III on the football field, both as a passer and runner, is incredible.  We have seen countless articles sounding the view that RGIII is changing the NFL.  QB Tom Brady has even begun talking about RGIII in post game comments. 

“I don’t run too often so I’ve got to show them I can still do it a little bit,” Brady said. “All the people out there, the opposing defenses that say I can’t run, at least they saw. I’m not a big threat, I’m not RG3 or anything, but I can make a first down.”