No shortage of fear, anxiety surrounding RG3’s prognosis

The Washington Redskins‘ 2013 offseason could have been a relatively tranquil period by the franchise’s standards. They seemed positioned to build on their NFC East division championship without the drama or tumult that has tainted past years.

Instead, their offseason began Monday with maximum anxiety regarding the status of quarterback Robert Griffin III’s right knee.

Because the results of an MRI exam Sunday night were inconclusive, possibly because of previous ligament tears, Griffin is scheduled to visit renowned orthopedist James Andrews on Tuesday in Pensacola, Fla., to undergo more tests.

The Redskins fear Griffin’s ACL was damaged when his knee bent gruesomely on a fourth-quarter play in their playoff loss to Seattle on Sunday. A complete tear would jeopardize his availability for the start of the 2013 regular season.

But because Griffin tore the ACL in 2009, and because he played the final three games of this season through a mildly sprained lateral collateral ligament, Andrews will evaluate him more extensively to clarify the results of the MRI exam. A diagnosis is expected Tuesday, according to a source who requested anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the testing process.

“A lot of times when you look at an MRI, my understanding, when you have ACL injury and LCL injury, you’ve had former injuries, they want to take another look and have a physical exam with him to make sure they’re not looking at old injuries on the MRI,” coach Mike Shanahan said.

Griffin did not speak to reporters Monday. During a two-hour open-locker-room media session in the morning, he was not among the dozens of players who cycled through to clean out their lockers and take exit physicals. He did attend the mandatory team meeting at noon and was spotted wearing a large brace.

While Shanahan updated reporters on Griffin’s status at 3 p.m., Griffin tweeted: “When adversity strikes you respond in one of two ways….You step aside and give in..Or you step up and fight.”

Griffin mildly sprained the LCL in his right knee Dec. 9 when Baltimore Ravens nose tackle Haloti Ngata tackled him on a scramble. Griffin missed the following game against Cleveland.

Despite wearing a brace against Seattle, he aggravated the knee when he fell awkwardly on his leg while passing on the Redskins‘ second drive. He obviously was hobbled after that.

Shanahan said he did not speak to team doctors between when Griffin aggravated his knee and when he re-entered the game for Washington’s next possession. But he said he spoke to team doctors three or four times during the game.

Griffin repeatedly insisted to Shanahan that he still could be effective. And because team doctors cleared Griffin to remain in the game, according to Shanahan’s account, Shanahan kept Griffin in.

National and local media outlets Monday scrutinized that choice. Detractors cited how gimpy Griffin was on a 9-yard designed run in the fourth quarter and some of his off-target passes, including an underthrown deep ball in the second quarter that was intercepted.

“I thought we made the right decisions,” Shanahan said. “You don’t make the decisions by yourself. You get a lot of opinions during the game, especially with a guy like Robert. Not only talking to him but talking to the doctors, and then you go with what you think is right.”

Griffin on Twitter defended his insistence to remain in the game.

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