Extent of Robert Griffin III's knee injury is unclear
Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan said the extent of Robert Griffin III's knee injury is unclear, saying the young quarterback will be examined by Dr James Andrews tomorrow because the results of today's MRI on the knee are unclear. Shanahan said what is seen on the MRI could be an old injury [Griffin suffered a torn ACL in that same knee in college at Baylor] or it could be a new one.
Mike Shanahan said he talked to doctors "three or four times" during the game yesterday to determine the health of Griffin's knee. He reiterated that Griffin told him his knee was good enough to continue playing in Sunday's wild card playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks.
Shanahan said Griffin is "looking forward" to meeting with Dr Andrews tomorrow to get more information about his injured knee. Redskins team owner Dan Snyder will accompany Griffin to Pensacola, Florida at the Andrew Institute for Orthopedics and Sports Medicine.
Robert Klemko, NFL reporter for USA Today, contacted Dr James Andrews about whether or not the doctor cleared Griffin to continue playing in the Ravens game, which has been a point of contention in recent days.
Just spoke with Dr. Andrews. He says he doesn't remember if he had a convo with Shanahan clearing RG3 vs. Ravens: "It was a month ago."
Shanahan refused to be pinned down on a date for information about the extent of Griffin's injury, but assured reporters he would pass it on to them when the information came in.
Shanahan said the Seahawks did not take lots of cheap shots at Griffin and said with Seattle the issue is the trash-talking chatter of several of their players. But he brushed the issue aside, noting Seattle is hardly alone in having a reputation as a trash-talking team.
Coach Shanahan refused to discuss which players or coaches would return next season, citing the need for post-season evaluation. He did say he understood if coordinators Kyle Shanahan and Jim Haslett wanted to interview for head coaching jobs, saying he thought every coach wanted a shot at a top job one day.
On the subject of the field conditions at FedEx yesterday -- which Seattle players and coaches have sharply criticized -- Shanahan said the field was not perfect, but was "okay" because he did not see people slipping a lot during the game. He indicated a willingness to discuss a change to an artificial turf field for the Redskins, but indicated a preference for natural grass.
On the subject of the $18 million salary cap penalty the Redskins will endure this offseason, Shanahan refused to comment on whether or not it might be lessened, citing the fact that the team is still involved in negotiations on that matter.
