Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III addressed the media on Monday morning, saying that he would continue to wear his supportive knee brace for the season and possibly beyond.
"I don't know if I'll wear it forever. I know I'll wear it the rest of the season," he said. "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."
Less than seven months after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and lateral collateral ligament (LCL), Griffin III is on board with being cautious in his return.
He also has the benefit of first-hand knowledge on how long ACL recovery can take, having suffered a torn ACL during his time at Baylor University.
"After the first time I had the injury, I wore [a brace] for a year and I thought I'd wear it the rest of my life," he said. "The next year came around, and I took it off, and we won a Heisman and did a whole lot of other things."
Robert Griffin III's record recovery has been a top NFL headline this offseason, as he has smashed the typical expectations of a nine-12 month recovery time.
Given all that he has been through over the last seven months, Griffin III understands the physical and mental toughness needed for a full recovery.
"[Initially] it's just a nagging pain. The pain never goes away, so it's not the worst pain you've ever felt at any particular moment after about two weeks, but it's just always there," he explained. "You have to be mentally tough enough to just overcome that and keep pushing through.
"The mental side, I think, you work on that throughout the whole rehab process. Cutting, jumping, planting on it. By the time you get out to the field, that side's past you.
"I feel like, physically, I have no pain, I have no swelling. I thank God for that, because not a lot of guys get blessed to have that this far into their rehab and getting back on the field. And then mentally, there's no mental obstacle for me at all."
During Saturday's afternoon practice, Griffin III drew applause when he rolled out of the pocket, surged past the line of scrimmage and then went into an exaggerated slide.
"It was fun," he told the media today. "Coach [Shanahan] said he wanted to see me make instinctive moves so I didn't really plan on scrambling, but once everything broke down I just scrambled out of the pocket.
"Ssaw a running lane and just thought everybody would love it if I just slid in practice for once, so I went ahead and did that. I find it easier to slide in football pants than shorts. So, it was a little harder but I slid and everybody liked it."
It did not escape the notice of his head coach, who said he appreciated the gesture.
"I laughed. I thought it was good," Mike Shanahan told the media after practice. "From one year to the next, you always emphasize different things and it's got to become automatic. No matter what you do, there has got to be emphasis there.
Shanahan continued: "The player's got to believe in it. They have got to think it. If it's in practice, if you usually do it in practice, it happens in games. I do not care if you're talking about turnovers, offense, defense, if you stress it and it is important to you, it will be important to them."
.
.
.
