Skip to main content

Mike Shanahan: Robert Griffin III to take tests Tuesday

For the second consecutive day, Washington Redskins coach Mike Shanahanstood at a podium and answered a wave of questions about the health and handling of rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III.

Shanahan didn't have much of an update on Griffin's health. He said Griffin will travel to the office of Dr. James Andrews on Tuesday for tests and further examination on his injured right knee. Shanahan said the team didn't make a preliminary diagnosis on the injury due to an anterior cruciate ligament injury Griffin suffered during his sophomore season at Baylor.

"Any time there's old injuries with ACL and lateral collateral ligament , there's always differences of opinion on the MRI, so that's why he's going to see Dr. Andrews tomorrow," Shanahan said.

Shanahan shot down the notion that he and Andrews had a miscommunication on the sideline after Griffin first injured his knee during a Dec. 9 game against the Baltimore Ravens.

"When Robert runs back on the field, I looked over to Dr. Andrews and said, 'Is he OK?' and he said, 'Yes, he's OK,' " Shanahan said. "So when you ask him that and he says he's OK, you don't ask him, 'Did you look at him? Do you watch him run around? Did you give him a test?' He said he was OK, so that's why he went back in the game."

Andrews backtracked from earlier statements in a Monday report in USA Today, saying he didn't remember if he and Shanahan had a conversation.

"It was the circumstances," Andrews said. "A lot of players get hurt and they don't want the staff to look at them. We've been told not to run after every player we think may be hurt. They're so upset they might turn around and punch you. That's a very common situation and not one that you can control. Robert just ran right back out there, and I think we figured he was OK. It was a mess."

Of course, any conversation in a game last month is largely meaningless, considering Griffin played in three games after the injury occurred. Also largely meaningless was Shanahan's news conference, which didn't tell us anything about Griffin we didn't already know.

UPDATE: Griffin has partial tears to his ACL and LCL, NFL.com's Jeff Darlington confirmed, via Redskins sources.

Follow Dan Hanzus on Twitter @DanHanzus.