Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III looked rusty to start Monday night’s season opener, but he said after the game that his knee is not the reason.
Brushing aside a question about whether sitting out the preseason to rest his surgically repaired knee was a problem for him on Monday night, Griffin said he wouldn’t make any excuses and felt like his knee was just fine.
“I was comfortable out there, I felt good, I was able to escape the pocket and move around,” Griffin said. “We just didn’t play well as a team.”
Griffin said it was important to demonstrate for the first time since blowing out his knee in January that he could pick himself back up after taking a hard shot.
“Everyone wants to see me get hit and get up, and that’s what they got to see,” Griffin said.
Unfortunately for Washington, what they didn’t get to see was Griffin looking like the same player he was a year ago. Griffin’s final numbers (30-for-49 passing for 329 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions, plus 24 rushing yards on five carries) seem OK, but he didn’t look like the same dynamic playmaker he was last year. For all the talk that Griffin’s rehabilitation from reconstructive knee surgery went perfectly, he may need some more time to get himself in midseason form.