Jay Gruden said Wednesday that he would like to have made a decision on whether Robert Griffin III will play against Dallas following a workout and a medical examination on Thursday morning.
Griffin, who has not played in nearly six weeks because of a dislocated left ankle, participated in team drills for the first time on Wednesday, sharing repetitions with the first team and the scout team with Kirk Cousins and Colt McCoy. He had been participating in individual drills since returning to practice early last week.
While Gruden has told McCoy that he will be the starter on Monday if Griffin is not medically cleared to play, Gruden did say that Griffin is the “wild card” for that game.
“It’s not so much about how his leg feels,” Gruden said. “It is, but it’s also about taking plays with the pass rush coming at him and the live reps that he hasn’t had since Houston or since Jacksonville — which is a long time ago, it seems like. A big part of it is how do we progress him along and get him the reps in practice, and there’s only so many he can have. That’s the biggest issue with that, and then getting the timing with the receivers and just playing the game.”
Gruden said that the decision to clear Griffin will be made by Larry Hess, the team’s head athletic trainer. Once Griffin is cleared, he will need to show the coaching staff a variety of things before he will be allowed to play.
“It’s one thing to play offensive guard, maybe, and miss five or six weeks and come right back in,” Gruden said, “but at quarterback, with the cadence, the reads, the progressions, the audibles, the timing with the receivers — that’s a little more difficult, especially for a young guy.”
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McCoy, who replaced Cousins in the second half of the Redskins’ game against Tennessee on Sunday, completed 11 of 12 passes and helped his team to a 19-17 victory. Gruden said he wanted to name McCoy the starter early in the week to build cohesion with the rest of the offense.
Griffin has not been permitted by the team to speak to reporters since the injury, even after returning to a limited practice.
If Griffin is not cleared to play, he will be inactive, Gruden said, with Cousins serving as the backup. Cousins started each of the five games Griffin has missed and has been responsible for 11 turnovers this season, including nine interceptions.
“The biggest thing, No. 1, is that the doctors have got to clear [Griffin], and then he’s got to go through a couple good days of practice — of actually running, asserting some energy on that thing, and then see how it reacts the next day,” Gruden said.
“Is it going to swell up? Is it going to be sore? Then also, still evaluate him from the process of getting him back into football shape and football form. There’s a lot of variances as to whether or not we think he’ll be ready for Monday night — health-wise, for one, and then is he ready physically, getting back in the flow with the wide receivers, with the timing and accuracy and all that?”
• Zac Boyer can be reached at zboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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