Washington Redskins head coach Jay Gruden announced Thursday the team intends to start Robert Griffin III at quarterback Sunday on the road against the Minnesota Vikings.
At his normal Thursday media availability, Gruden said, “He’s taking the starting reps. We have the intent of him starting.
“If everything goes well tomorrow, yes, he should be the starter.”
Gruden dismissed the idea of waiting until after the following week’s bye, pronouncing Griffin healthy and ready physically.
“There are no cons to playing him now if he’s healthy, which we think he is,” Gruden said. “The problem with the bye is everyone thinks you’ve got all this extra time to work. The bye week, the players get like five days off. It’s not like we can come out here and have two-a-days and get them ready. If he’s ready physically, I think he should play. Physically we think he’s ready.”
Gruden said it would take a physical setback or new injury for Griffin not to play Sunday.
“If something happens where he steps on somebody’s foot or something like that, or comes up lame for whatever reason, which shouldn’t happen,” Gruden said. “Or if he just comes and tells me that, ‘Hey, I need another week for it to settle, which probably won’t happen. But for me to say he won’t play, if he’s 100-percent healthy, which we know he is, [it would] just be his comfort level out there.”
Griffin injured his left ankle in Week 2 against Jacksonville.
The Redskins have a chance to ever their record at 4-4 against Minnesota with a bye week next and Tampa Bay the following week. If Griffin can return to made a positive impact, the Redskins could very well have a chance in the next two weeks to elevate themselves into playoff talk after knocking off the then one-loss Cowboys last Monday night.