NFL Tickets
It’s the NFL and players are going to play, it’s as simple as that. Mike Shanahan and the Washington Redskins did nothing wrong by allowing Robert Griffin III to play in the loss to the Seattle Seahawks yesterday. Griffin was at less than 100% and everyone could see that, but he wasn’t fully healthy in the two weeks prior to this game either so saying RGIII shouldn’t play is hypocritical.
I didn’t hear anyone saying the Redskins shouldn’t have played him against the Philadelphia Eagles two weeks ago and I sure as heck didn’t hear a peep about sitting Griffin last week when the division was on the line against the Dallas Cowboys either! It was clear in both of those games that Griffin wasn’t at full strength but I don’t recall hearing anyone criticize Mike Shanahan then, so why am I hearing it now?
Spare me the talk about how Dr. James Andrews didn’t clear Griffin and wouldn’t have if he knew the Redskins were planning on playing him because that came two weeks too late. If he, or anyone else, had concerns about RGIII playing, they should been voiced long before the playoffs. If Andrews didn’t think Griffin should be playing, then why didn’t he stop it from happening? The Redskins have team doctors and they obviously felt Griffin was healthy enough to play, so why is there an issue?
The simple truth is Griffin felt he could play hurt, just like he has in the past two weeks, so he played in the most important game for the Redskins in a long time. Shanahan asked him if he was healthy enough to play and Griffin told him he was good to go, so again, why was it a problem that he played?
Griffin wound up getting hurt even further in the game but every player risks injury when they step onto the field. As soon as the injury happened, I knew the second guessing would start. I just want to know where all that second guessing has been the past few weeks when he’s played? Griffin’s health in regards to playing was not an issue leading up to the game but since the Redskins lost, people needed something to blame it on and RGIII’s knee became the perfect issue.
Griffin’s knee was a story from the game but it wasn’t why the Redskins lost. Washington lost because the Seahawks imposed their physical style of football on the Redskins and it wore them down. The Redskins lost because they forgot about Alfred Morris and the running game; he had eight carries in the first quarter and just eight more after that. The Seahawks are a better team, that’s why they beat the Redskins and not because Griffin played at less than 100% healthy.
There was nothing wrong with allowing Robert Griffin to play yesterday, thinking anything else is just hypocritical.
you can chat with or follow Ben on twitter @BenGrimaldi
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