Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III spoke to reporters about his dislocated ankle Friday at Redskins Park for the first time since sustaining the injury Sept. 14 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Wearing a yellow long-sleeve shirt, Griffin recounted a statement in the middle of the locker room. The team did not allow him to answer questions.
The full text of Griffin’s statement is below:
“A quote that I stumbled upon during this process of being injured and being out was by Winston Churchill. And it says, ’Courage is what it takes to stand up and do something. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.’ So during this time, I’ve been listening, learning, growing as a player in this offense. It’s our job to help this team win, and I’ve been there for Kirk [Cousins] and Colt [McCoy] as much as I possibly can, and being there for this team to make sure they’re as ready as possible during this process. And it sucks that I can’t get out there and play with them and help them get wins, but I’ve been listening to the doctors, listening to the trainers, listening to the coaches and we’re not going to rush my ankle. It’s a blessing that I wasn’t hurt as bad as it could’ve been. It’s been a blessing, and I’ve been recovering right on time. So that’s good. But at the same time, we don’t want to rush that. It’s Dallas week. We all want to beat Dallas. We know what this game means for our season, so that’s what I’ve been trying to do this week and making sure that I’m ready to go, making sure this team’s ready to go and whoever plays quarterback is ready to go. That’s all I got to say. Beat Dallas.”
The team had not permitted Griffin to speak to reporters before Friday despite his return to practice last week.
Redskins coach Jay Gruden has left open the possibility this week that Griffin could start Monday night against the Dallas Cowboys, but that decision will not be made until just before kick-off. The Redskins have prepared this week as if McCoy will start Monday night.
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Gruden preemptively addressed the quarterback situation at his press conference Friday.
“As far as the quarterbacks are concerned, nothing’s really changed there,” he said in his opening statement. “So if you guys want to eliminate the quarterback questions, we can do that. We’re still preparing for Colt to be the starter, and Robert is continuing with his practice exertion. He’s getting more and more reps. As far as the status for Monday, we will announced that on Monday.”
• Tom Schad can be reached at tschad@washingtontimes.com.
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