Robert Griffin III practiced on a somewhat limited basis Wednesday, but that was just a precaution.
Washington’s rookie quarterback has been feeling fine since Sunday night, hours after he was pulled from the game with six minutes left in the third quarter with a mild concussion. He was hurt on a hit by Atlanta Falcons linebacker Sean Weatherspoon.
Barring any unexpected setbacks between now and Sunday, Griffin will start for the Redskins, as usual, against the visiting Minnesota Vikings.
“It’s a serious issue, but I felt fine when I left the locker room (after the Falcons game),” Griffin said Wednesday. “I went home, watched some TV and kinda just relaxed. I haven’t had any symptoms at all. Practice went good. I felt sharp. I felt good. No symptoms of a concussion: no dizziness or (feeling) off-balance. I feel right today. We’ll see what happens come Sunday.”
Griffin, who did some cardio work and some throwing Tuesday and will get evaluated every day before he’s cleared for full contact, joked that his only symptom is irritability from continually being asked the same questions by the Redskins’ medical staff to see how he’s doing.
“So far so good,” coach Mike Shanahan said Wednesday. “He had a good practice today. I thought he performed well. Each day, we’ll monitor him and if he feels good, we’re gonna go with him.”
But Shanahan said despite the Heisman Trophy winner’s good condition, the team has to prepare for the eventuality that backup Kirk Cousins might make his first start against the Vikings.
Cousins, who relieved Griffin against Atlanta and threw a touchdown pass and two interceptions in his pro debut, took more of the practice snaps than he did last week, when he only threw passes as the scout team quarterback preparing Washington’s defense to face the Falcons.
Griffin, the NFC’s third-leading passer and its leading rusher among quarterbacks, said that he saw Weatherspoon coming as he ran toward the Atlanta sideline but didn’t react quickly enough to protect himself.
“If I had slid a half-second earlier, I’d been safe, but I tried to get down too late, and he had already launched,” Griffin said. “At that point, it was just a matter of absorbing the hit, and I absorbed it the wrong way. I can’t do that to my team, to the fans or to my family because a life is more important that the game of football. These things that happen to us (affect) us down the road, and I gotta make sure I limit that. I gotta make sure I keep myself safe while still being the same player I am.”
Veteran receiver Santana Moss believes that Griffin has learned his lesson.
“Once you take one of those hits or two, it’s evident,” Moss said. “If it ain’t a play designed for you to run, save your body. I think he knows that. We all know that if you have nowhere to go, get out of bounds.”
Griffin, 22, said that his teammates have assured him that he’s already proven his toughness by getting up from punishing hits dished out in Weeks 2 and 3 by St. Louis and Cincinnati defenders.
“I promised I’d get up from hits like that, and I did get up,” said Griffin, who scored a touchdown after suffering a concussion last season at Baylor before being pulled from the game for good. “I don’t have anything to prove. If you have to live to play another down, then you’ll live to play another down.”