Source: Robert Griffin III Has “A Long Way To Go” Before Starting Week One

Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports /

The hope in Washington is that rookie sensation Robert Griffin III will be able to recover from his ACL injury in time to start week one of the 2013 NFL season. But hope and reality seem to be two very different things that Redskins fans are apparently blending together, as reports out of Washington indicate that RG3 is ahead of schedule and on track to start the season under center.

But while Redskins officials are selling hope, a person close to the situation told Yahoo! Sports that what Washington is saying and what’s really happening with Griffin’s recovery couldn’t be further apart.

“I don’t understand why we’re talking about how close he is to playing or not right now,” the source told Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports.  “Let him just get better; there’s a long way to go.”

The source went on to point out the obvious, that despite all the talk of Griffin being ahead of schedule the man isn’t even able to jog yet, let alone run and perform football activities. This is something Redskins officials were hoping fans and more importantly TV networks would overlook as RG3’s injury could affect how many nationally televised games the Redskins get in 2013.

“Again, it’s been like six weeks; what are we doing this for?” the source told Cole regarding the talk of Griffin’s quick recovery.  “He’s not running yet. . . .  It’s ridiculous to talk about.”

The Redskins are no strangers to fluffing the truth, especially when it comes to Griffin’s health. Midway through the season the Redskins lied about a concussion Griffin suffered and later they forced him to come back early from a knee injury, something that led to his ACL tear in the NFC Wild Card round. But to be fair, put yourself in the Redskins’ position: their like the desperate kid in high school who’s never had a girl friend then totally gets too controlling when he gets one because he doesn’t know how to handle the situation. It’s been a while since the Redskins have had a franchise quarterback and now that they do, they’re trying to milk everything out of him way to early.

We’d all love for Griffin to be back and ready to wow as soon as possible, but his ACL injury puts a limit on how far he can be pushed and if the pushing becomes shoving, we could see the relationship between the Rookie of the Year and his franchise turn ugly very quickly.