Robert Griffin III undergoes surgery today on a torn lateral collateral ligament and a torn anterior cruciate ligament, according to sources, but the Washington Redskins’ likely NFL Rookie of the Year could be healed in time to start the 2013 season.
Griffin sustained the injuries Sunday during the team’s 24-14 playoff loss to Seattle. The controversy that surrounded Griffin remaining in the game despite being hobbled in the first quarter likely will heat up, considering the severity of the quarterback’s injuries.
Sources told ESPN that the torn ACL was diagnosed late Tuesday as a complete tear of the patella graft that was used to repair a torn ACL Griffin suffered at Baylor in 2009. A team source told the network that Dr. James Andrews likely will use a patella graft from Griffin’s left knee to repair the most recent tear.
Save for any setbacks, Griffin’s recovery could last up to eight months, sources said. Strengthening Griffin’s quadriceps to help protect and help stabilize the knee will be the main emphasis of the rehab, according to sources.
The reconstructed LCL will heal simultaneously with the ACL and, although it will make rehab tougher, it should not delay the recovery.
If all goes well, Griffin could participate at some level during training camp in August and potentially be healthy enough to open the season in September, according to the sources.
In 2009 while at Baylor, Griffin tore the ACL of the same knee, and it required two screws and a rubber band to hold it together.
The Washington Post reported earlier that Griffin’s MRI suggested a partial tear to the LCL and that surgery would determine if the ACL was damaged. Griffin was still recovering from a sprained knee ligament going into Sunday’s wild-card playoff game. When he twisted the knee trying to recover a muffed shotgun snap, he lay on the field writhing in pain.
Andrews made comments to USA Today that he tried to clarify about Griffin’s return to the Dec. 9 game in which he originally hurt his knee. On Monday, Andrews told The Washington Post that coach Mike Shanahan “didn’t lie about it, and I didn’t lie.”
“I didn’t get to examine (Griffin’s knee) because he came out for one play, didn’t let us look at him and on the next play, he ran through all the players and back out onto the field,” he told the newspaper.
“Coach Shanahan looks at me like, ‘Is he OK?’ and I give him the high sign as in, ‘He’s running around, so I guess he’s OK.’ But I didn’t get to check him out until after the game. It was just a communication problem. Heat of battle. I didn’t get to tell him I didn’t get to examine the knee. Mike Shanahan would never have put him out there at risk just to win a game.”
