NFL Inferno: Mike Shanahan played “Griffin” roulette with the Redskins and RGIII’s future.

Robert Griffin III re-injures his knee in the Redskins Wild Card loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

When Robert Griffin III initially injured his knee against the Baltimore Ravens, I said the Redskins dodged a bullet.  But now it seems that ever since the injury occurred, instead of taking the cautious approach to handling it, Mike Shanahan continued to tempt fate.  Instead of backing away from the table when he had the chance, Shanahan played a game tantamount to Russian Roulette, and kept squeezing the trigger until today when the bullet finally hit its mark.

With the news that Dr. James Andrews did not clear RGIII to return to the game when he was injured against the Ravens, I guess now it’s no surprise that Shanahan let it all come to this.  It’s clear now that RGIII should not have been playing at all the past few games, and now one can only draw the conclusion that the Redskins risked the future of the franchise, in order to make the playoffs this year.  And I don’t think it was worth it.

I admire the courage of Robert Griffin III for trying to play through his injury.  Any competitor worth anything is going to try to continue to compete if it’s possible.  But responsible minds should know better than to let the player decide whether or not to continue, and that’s what it seems that Mike Shanahan did.  As the head coach he has the responsibility to shut a player down and protect him from himself.

It seems Shanahan was going to ride or die with RGIII in this game come hell or high water, but a blind man could see this coming.  RGIII was clearly not able to compete effectively, and when it became obvious that he should come out, Shanahan let him continue.  I criticized Mike Shanahan when he drafted Kirk Cousins, and he proved me wrong as Cousins more than substantiated his value as a backup.  And if there was ever a time use him, surely it was against the Seahawks.  But Shanahan kept tempting fate.

I doubt Redskins fans even want to think about the future right now, as they wait to hear the extent of the damage Griffin’s knee suffered this time.  But I see no need to reserve judgment on Shanahan, as I’m not quite sure how he can be trusted handling the safety of Robert Griffin III moving forward.  Because this scenario will play itself out again.  And how will Shanahan handle it the next time?  Will he back away from the table and tread on the side of caution?  Or will he slide in the bullet, spin the cylinder, and continue to tempt fate by playing another game of “Griffin” roulette?

Related articles

• Mike Shanahan: RG3 said he could keep going (profootballtalk.nbcsports.com)
• Robert Griffin III injury a bad call by Mike Shanahan; Redskins-Seahawks best, worst performers (nfl.si.com)
• Andrews: I didn’t OK RG III to re-enter game (espn.go.com)
• Mike Shanahan Wants To Kill RGIII (kissingsuzykolber.uproxx.com)