After months of losing patience and not seeing eye-to-eye with head coach Mike Shanahan on the timetable of his recovery, Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III has declared his knee good to go and is eying a Week 1 return to NFL action.
Griffin believes he is 100 percent ready.
"I would say I'm 100 percent, but you can't put a number on it," Griffin said, according to ESPN. "No one ever knows when they are 100 percent or what percentage they're playing at. The biggest thing is, I'm not below 100 percent."
While Griffin feels 100 percent good to go, it all depends on the diagnosis from Dr. James Andrews over whether or not he will be medically cleared to play Week 1 when the Redskins take on their division rival Philadelphia Eagles on Sept. 9 in D.C. Andrews is scheduled to watch Griffin work out and then examine him at some point on Thursday.
The Redskins face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the road in the team's preseason finale Thursday, but it's unknown whether Griffin will be evaluated before, during or after the game.
Griffin told ESPN he feels faster and hungrier than ever and doesn't think the knee brace he has to wear will restrict his play.
Griffin originally hurt his knee on Dec. 9 against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 14, but returned to play against the Eagles and led his team to victory in Week 16. Griffin even appeared in his first NFL playoff game in a loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the wildcard round in a game where he re-injured the knee and had to have offseason surgery to repair some ligaments on Jan. 9.
The injury video can be seen below:
Griffin hasn't been able to play in game action since the injury and has sat out the entire preseason for the Redskins so far. Griffin has been impatient at times with the way his injury has been handled but Washington has been smart to try and protect the second-year quarterback, who got into some trouble by being too open with the media about his frustration last week.
In his rookie season last year, RG3 played in 15 games and went 258-for-393 for 3,200 yards while also throwing for 20 touchdowns and just five interceptions. He also ran for 815 yards on 120 carries and reached the end zone seven times.
The Redskins finished first in the AFC East last year, posting a 10-6 record before falling to the Seahawks in that fateful wildcard game that injured Griffin's knee further.
This season, Griffin is hungry and ready to prove himself, as long as the knee allows.
"I just think I'm ready to go, I'm ready to play," Griffin said per ESPN, "and, if anything, Coach and the organization holding me back has made me that much more hungry. I didn't think that was possible, but it definitely worked."
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