Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Mike Shanahan has a lot of explaining to do. Robert Griffin III was clearly hurting but Shanahan played him anyways. The team doctor said he was not ready to go but Shanahan played him. It ended with Griffin limping off the field as every Washington Redskins fan held their breath.
There was no reason to play him. After the first quarter, Griffin could not move and he could not throw. They had a perfectly capable backup in Kirk Cousins ready to go but they didn’t bring him in until it was too late. By that time, the Skins were down by a couple of scores. If they had made the switch sooner, things could have be salvaged. However, coaches are way too stubborn.
I really hope that Griffin is not seriously hurt. If he ended up doing more damage to his knees, the team should maybe look at firing Shanahan. Griffin is the big investment on the team. If you end up with him hobbled for more than this year, your team is looking fairly grim. Sometimes you have to value the future over the present. In the case of a potential superstar, you should err on the side of caution.
The Redskins were powered by Griffin this year but he should not have been out there on Sunday. He simply could not do his job but Shanahan put him out there. That is a terrible decision by him as he did not listen to the doctors.
Hopefully this doesn’t hurt the team in the future.
