Washington: The question throughout the off-season centred on whether or not Robert Griffin III would make it back from the reconstructive surgery to his right knee in time for the Washington Redskins’ season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles.
After impressively clearing each hurdle he has faced, Griffin on Monday — exactly eight months, or 243 days after his surgery — will indeed lead the Redskins into the 2013 season.
When Griffin steps on the field, he will complete one of the fastest recoveries from such an injury, and slightly nudge up the bar from the mark where Adrian Peterson set it when he returned to action 254 days after having his own torn anterior cruciate ligament repaired at the tail end of the 2011 season.
But two questions remain: Can the quarterback’s now twice-surgically repaired knee hold up, and can Griffin fulfil his promise to come back better than ever?
Everyone inside Redskins Park believes the answer to both questions is yes.
If so, the team have a realistic chance of becoming NFC East champions for the second year in a row, could make a deep play-off run and develop into perennial contenders. If Griffin battles injury all year and is never the same, however, a franchise that gave up three first-round picks and a second just to be able to draft him with St Louis’s No 2 overall pick will take steps backward both in the short and long term.
Griffin has given his teammates and coaches every reason to believe the latter will not happen.
“He looks 100 per cent to me,” offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan said. “He can fly around. He can make the throws. There’s no gimp at all — obviously he wouldn’t be out there if there was. But he looks good to me. I’m excited to get him out there Week 1.”
Asked if Griffin’s ‘better than ever’ expectations were realistic, Peterson — the super recovery poster child himself — said: “I feel like anything is possible. I’m always trying to root guys on to accomplish their goals. I’ve spoken about things that you have to do to come back, and that’s taking advantage from that first week out of surgery on. If [Griffin] has put in that work, he’ll be able to come back and be successful.”
