Nope, I’m still not ready to back down from my original pessimism over Robert Griffin and his dislocated ankle. Yes, it looks like there’s a chance that I’ll be wrong and that Griffin will come back and play at some point this season. But my reasoning at the time was solid… it just turns out that Griffin had a miraculously uncomplicated injury.
Perhaps (most likely) because I’ve already been so pessimistic on RG3, I keep seeing reasons not to get too carried away and think that he’s actually coming back soon. The facts just aren’t there yet. Remember when they reported about how he was stretching on the field? Yeah, that didn’t mean anything. Turns out today is more of the same. In a piece from the Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg, (taken from a SiriusXM interview) head coach Jay Gruden attempts to answer some very specific questions about Griffin’s expected return date. When asked the question of, “…do you have a date circled when you think you could have him back on the field?”, Gruden replied with this:
“I would think — I would guarantee Tampa, most likely, unless something happens between now and then.”
So many things to love about that one. First, Gruden doesn’t seem to understand the meaning of the word, “guarantee,” as he immediately tempers it with, “most likely.” I’m guessing he regretted that G-bomb the second it slipped out. Second, I love that he then tries to back off even more with that whole, “unless something happens between now and then,” part.
If we boil this all down, we’re left with Gruden basically saying, “Griffin will play in Week 11, unless he doesn’t.” Thanks for the clarity there coach. But I’m not trying to blast Gruden. My point is simply that Griffin doesn’t know when he’ll be back, Gruden doesn’t know when he’ll be back, nobody knows when he’ll be back. There are all sorts of possible obstacles in the way, and it’s ridiculous to already start with this, “will he or won’t he,” talk.
