Redskins: Robert Griffin III references playing hurt in tweet about Sam Bradford

Robert Griffin III had a laundry list of injuries during his time with the Washington Redskins. He is still talking about some that he suffered.

Every Redskins fan remembers the day that Robert Griffin III played in his first playoff game. The Redskins, winner of the NFC East, got a home playoff game at the start of the 2012 playoffs. Their opponent? The Seattle Seahawks who featured a stubborn defense and a rookie quarterback, Russell Wilson, with a lot of potential. It was going to be a tough contest to win, but Mike Shanahan and the Redskins were determined to emerge victorious.

During the game, RG3 didn’t look sharp. He was a bit nicked up from an LCL injury that he had suffered in Week 14. But the Redskins were desperate to win. And with the team staying competitive, they had to keep RG3 in. Or at least Mike Shanahan thought he needed to keep him in.

In the second half, RG3 was struggling to move around. But he never came off the field. On one fateful play backed up in his own territory, Griffin’s knee gave out and he was done. He had torn his ACL and needed surgery. It was a crushing blow for the Redskins franchise and RG3 alike. He was never the same and is currently out of the NFL.

So, why bring this up now? Well, another quarterback appeared to be playing through a similar situation on Monday Night Football. Sam Bradford, who had been dealing with a knee injury since Week 1 of the NFL season, came back to start for the Minnesota Vikings but he was struggling badly. His mobility was limited like RG3’s, and the former Redskins quarterback took to Twitter to talk about Bradford’s appearance.

Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer apparently saw the same thing that Griffin did as Bradford came out of the game at halftime. Case Keenum ended up replacing him.

This tweet serves as a reminder that NFL coaches have to have their players’ best interests in mind. When RG3 was in the playoffs with the Redskins, Shanahan and company cared about winning and thought that Griffin was healthy enough to play. They needed to look out for their rookie, and they failed to do that.

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Granted, Griffin’s collapse was not entirely due to that injury. But there’s no doubt that the injury had an impact on him. Hopefully, NFL executives, coaches, and players alike will become more in tune with injuries and really understand when players can or cannot play through injuries.