RG3's injury woes continue along with Browns' QB carousel
Stop me if you've heard either of these things before: Robert Griffin III has officially been placed on injured reserve by the Cleveland Browns after suffering a fractured coracoid bone in his left shoulder, and now, the Cleveland Browns will have another quarterback.
Josh McCown was announced as the Browns' new starting quarterback shortly after the news of Griffin III’s injury, and the Cleveland quarterback carousel continues.
It just so happens that now, Griffin III and Cleveland are experiencing these misfortunes together. Cleveland fans and the Browns themselves were hoping that signing RG3 would prove to be the perfect marriage, so much so that Robert Griffin III was voted captain of this 2016 Browns squad. Turns out the match couldn't have been any better. It just so happens that their marriage turned out to be perfect for the wrong reason — because it produced more of the morose same for both the player and the francise.
At this point, there are no jokes to be made. This is just sad, especially for Griffin III. Add this injury to multiple ACL tears (2009 and twice in 2012), at least two recorded concussions (2012, 2015) and a dislocated ankle (2014), and it's difficult to not feel for the former Offensive Rookie of the Year. RG3 will be re-evaluated in three to four weeks, at which point the Browns will decide whether or not to shut him down for the entire season after just one contest.
To make matters worse, in Griffin III’s only regular-season game with the Browns for the foreseeable future, Cleveland lost 29-10 to the Eagles in Philadelphia, the only game in the NFL on Sunday that wasn't decided by single digits. The result was decided before Griffin sustained this injury, as Cleveland looked as incompetent as ever, getting picked apart by a rookie quarterback in his first career start.
Perhaps the saddest part of this story is what RG3 told NFL Network reporter Mike Garafolo shared Friday.
“If there’s a chance to break a long run, you take it, but when it’s time to protect yourself, you get down and move on to the next play,” he said.
“It’s about situational football and studying yourself and your tendencies and realize that. And I realized I have an aggressive mindset when it comes to all things — throwing the ball, running the ball and just in life. I know that and I’m able to admit that so it helps me protect myself from myself.”
Griffin III's injury came late in the fourth quarter, and unsurprisingly, it was on one of his elusive out-of-the-pocket runs that have for the most part become a figment of the past and our imaginations since he set the world on fire during his 2012 rookie season. Only this time, Griffin III was trying to get out of bounds. He was pretty much out of bounds before ramming into Eagles rookie safety Jalen Mills with his non-throwing shoulder, which just goes to show that unless you are down on the grass, you are not protecting yourself.
Griffin III played through his obvious pain and stayed in for the remainder of the game.
This is not a man who wants to give up, not a man who has missed most of his four seasons in the NFL by choice. Late Sunday night, he tweeted, "Through it all, trust God's timing."
On Monday, after his all-too-familiar fate was revealed to the world and he became the center of a conversation he never wanted to be a part of, Griffin III tweeted again:
So, what is Cleveland supposed to do? Hope. Hope that McCown, who is is 37 years old and went 1-7 in the eight games he started for the Browns last season, keeps the ship afloat well enough for the Browns to have a shot when Griffin III is eligible to return in November. Hope that Griffin III is, in fact, able to return after eight games.
And most of all, hope that both the Browns and Griffin III get a better ending to their NFL stories than what has been written so far. But in the meantime, history continues to repeat itself for both the Browns and their not-so-shiny new quarterback.
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