Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III is continuing to make strides at training camp as he recovers from his ACL injury. He spoke with reporters on Monday and discussed his recovery, where he's physically at now and whether he'll permanently wear a knee brace, Redskins.com reports.
Griffin was medically cleared last week to practice, but the Redskins are being cautious and slowly easing him back into football. Right now, Griffin is participating only in 7-on-7 drills and taking limited reps.
"I feel like I'm ready for (team drills), but we're being real cautious right now and taking it slow," Griffin told reporters, via the team website. "That's what Coach wants to do, so all I do is I go out there and prove to my teammates, prove to the coaches, to the fans that I'm ready to go. That's my only goal."
He also addressed the report of him rehabbing during his honeymoon in France, which he said was supposed to be a secret. Sidelined for most of the offseason, Griffin kept busy by studying the playbook.
"I spent all offseason try to master the offense. You can never truly master an NFL offense, but I feel like I'm pretty close and being a student of the game, watching film, all those things," Griffin said.
As for the clunky knee brace he wears, the 2013 NFL Rookie of the Year isn't concerned about it restricting his game.
"It's not. Last year, it was a concern because I didn't play with a brace or have to rehab with a brace all year," Griffin said. "So when you put it on, it does kind of restrict you a little bit more because you're not used to it. Now that I've rehabbed with it and everything - similar to my situation at Baylor (when he returned from his first ACL injury), I wore it the whole year - you get used to it. Your leg gets stronger and you can carry that extra weight."
Griffin also didn't rule out wearing the knee brace for the rest of his NFL career.
"I don't know if I'll wear it forever," he said. "I know I'll wear it the rest of the season. After the first time I had the injury (at Baylor), I wore it for a year and I thought I'd wear it the rest of my life. The next year came around, and I took it off, and we won a Heisman and did a whole lot of other things. It just depends on how the leg feels. I don't plan on wearing it past this season, but that all depends on what happens."
He went on to say he has no pain or swelling in his knee, and planting on the leg and resetting in the pocket isn't an issue. Redskins coach Mike Shanahan has already ruled Griffin out for playing in the preseason games, but Griffin is expected to be ready to start for Week 1.
