Does RG3 need to play in the preseason? Now that it appears—and we’ll emphasize “appears”—that Robert Griffin III will be ready to participate in training camp for the Redskins the big question becomes whether or not he will play in the preseason. Mike Shanahan said during OTAs that Griffin would not necessarily have to play in a preseason game in order to play in the season opener against the Eagles on Sept. 9. That was the smart stand to take since there still is the possibility that there won’t be any preseason games left to play when he gets cleared. But even if Griffin is declared healthy for the July 25 start of training camp it remains to be seen if he will take a snap against a hostile defense before the regular season. Everybody’s favorite comparison to Griffin in terms of his rehab and recovery from his knee injury is Adrian Peterson so let’s take a look at what the Vikings running back did in the preseason last year. He tore his ACL at FedEx Field on Christmas Eve of 2011. And, well, you don’t have to look long because he did nothing. Peterson starting training camp on the PUP list and came off of it on August 12. The Vikings still had three preseason games left to play but Peterson did not play so much as take a snap in any of them. As we all know, he came within a first down of breaking the NFL’s single season rushing record. Of course there are some key differences between Griffin and Peterson. Peterson had five NFL season under his belt going into 2012 while RG3 is coming off of his rookie season. And the quarterback is more in need of live snaps to mesh with his teammates than is a running back. Perhaps a better comp to Griffin is Phillip Rivers of the Chargers. He suffered a torn ACL in the divisional round of the 2007 season playoffs and he played in the AFC title game on Jan. 20, 2008 without an ACL in his right knee. Rivers had surgery to repair the ACL shortly after San Diego lost to the Patriots in that game. But even after the late-January procedure he made the cameo appearance that starters usually make in the preseason opener in August and he played extensively in the Chargers’ third preseason game. In the regular season Rivers started all 16 games for the Chargers and he passed for over 4,000 yards with 34 touchdowns and a 105.5 passer rating. At the time, Rivers was more experienced than Griffin is now. He held the clipboard as Drew Brees’ backup for two years before taking over as the starter in 2006. For his part, Griffin said that he would be fine playing without getting any preseason action. “I have thought about that, and yes, I would be comfortable with that,” he said. “That is all I can say. I have no control over whether I play or not in the preseason. I would be comfortable running out of the tunnel at FedEx Field with the smoke and everything.” As he noted, it’s not entirely up to Griffin. The extent of his preseason action is up to Shanahan, one of many key decisions that the coach will have to make before Griffin takes the field under live fire. It will be a high-stakes risk-reward calculation.
Posted on: Thu, 27 Jun 2013 14:19:13 +0000
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