The surgery on Robert Griffin III's right knee is complete. Now comes the hard part for the Washington Redskins' rookie quarterback.
Robert Griffin's father confirmed to USA TODAY Sports that it was determined Wednesday his son needed to have his anterior cruciate ligament repaired.
"Robert's ACL is intact, but not enough for his profession," Griffin II said, via text message. "You and I could be fine. But he is an athlete. So they will replace."
Griffin is facing a long recovery after surgery Wednesday morning to his lateral collateral ligament and his ACL. Earlier, a source close to Griffin told NFL.com's Jeff Darlington that the final determination on if Griffin needed his ACL repaired would be made during surgery by Dr. James Andrews.
During surgery, it was determined the ACL also needed to be repaired.
Getting both ligaments repaired could slow Griffin's recovery, but we're living in a different era of ACL surgeries. Adrian Peterson nearly broke the NFL's rushing record after tearing his ACL in late December 2011. Players routinely return from ACL surgery in time for Week 1 after getting injured late in the season.
Every player's recovery varies. We'll hear a lot of estimated timelines, but no one knows this early in the process.
Some players need a full season to get fully back up to speed. Others, like Peterson, look better than ever. It's discouraging for Griffin's development because he will have to focus on rehab rather than honing his skills in his first full offseason as a pro. But he has been through this before at Baylor, and Griffin's accuracy and decision-making stood out even more than his speed as a rookie.
Griffin likely will have to lean on those skills more than ever in 2013, because the Redskins' read-option offense might have to be pared down as Griffin gets healthy again.
RG3 somehow managed to rise above the lofty expectations and hype he brought to the NFL in his rookie season. There's no reason to think he can't overcome this injury, too.
Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.
