Now comes the part where we wait to hear it from the team and the media. Seriously, what’s the hold-up here?
In case you somehow didn’t see the footage (which I won’t link to because the NFL takes everything down immediately and then I look like the lazy idiot with a busted link), Washington QB Robert Griffin III trashed his ankle today. So far, the team has confirmed that RG3 dislocated his ankle.
Gruden: @RGIII has a dislocated ankle; will undergo more tests tomorrow. Does not know length of time he will miss as of today.
— Washington Redskins (@Redskins) September 14, 2014
Amazingly, nobody that I’ve read is really stepping out and calling this one yet. In my opinion, RG3 is absolutely done for the year, and it surprises me that I’m not seeing that anywhere else. The most drastic example I could find was this one from CBS Sports where Will Brinson says, “… it wouldn’t be surprising if Griffin misses significant time.” Yeah, that’s really sticking your neck out there Will.
Why am I so pessimistic on this one? Good question, thanks for having the courage to ask it, especially in front of all your friends who don’t think it’s cool to ask questions. My answer would be that the injury is both rare and severe. That’s not a great combo. In my injury database, I have exactly two instances of ankle dislocation, and they are both ugly. Ever hear of RB Stafon Johnson? Probably not. He has a dislocated ankle to blame for that. Johnson’s injury came in his 2010 rookie season, and he was pretty much toast after that, never appearing in a regular season game. Tackle Mike Johnson (it would seem the last name Johnson predisposes one for ankle dislocation) suffered one in August of 2013 and immediately went on injured reserve.
But that’s only two people, so it’s a ridiculously small sample size. What’s more interesting to me is the severity of this injury. Ankles are not easy to dislocate. By the time you have enough force to injure the ankle like that, you’re probably getting plenty of other damage to go along with it. It doesn’t seem anyone “only” dislocates an ankle. Both those previous examples with the last name Johnson also fractured their fibula’s in the process. Both needed serious surgery. So yes, while the sample size is indeed small, it makes me think that RG3 would be lucky to get out of this with only a dislocated ankle. If I were a gambling man (and I totally am) I would wager that RG3’s injury is only going to sound worse over the next few days as we hear about surgery and possibly some fractures or torn ligaments. If I’m correct, I’m also going to call myself the big winner for calling it early. I’m putting this up Sunday, 8:03 PM EST. Let’s see if I’m as ahead of the news as I think.
Even if I’m wrong and Griffin escaped with just a dislocated ankle, that’s still severe enough on its own to possibly sideline him for the season. Do I really need to explain why a healthy, stable ankle is important to a mobile quarterback like Griffin? Remember how bad he looked when he played on that injured LCL back in 2012? Remember how it limited his ability to protect himself and he ended up taking a devastating hit that tore his ACL? Do you really think the team is team is going to make that mistake again and rush him back? Okay, yeah, Dan Snyder is an idiot, so the, “rush him back to get reinjured,” angle is possible. Still, I’m calling it right now. Season over.
Update: Turned out Griffin somehow didn’t suffer any ligament damage or fractured bones. That’s rare. I followed up with plenty more about his situation here, here, and here. After all the dust settled and Griffin returned to play, I revisited the situation in this piece.
