RG3 injures left shoulder, will undergo tests on Monday

Cleveland Browns quarterback Robert Griffin III injured his non-throwing shoulder against the Philadelphia Eagles and will undergo tests on Monday.

Entering the 2016 season one of the major questions surrounding the Cleveland Browns was the health of quarterback Robert Griffin III.

On a team that hasn’t had a quarterback start a full 16 games since Tim Couch in 2001, and with Griffin carrying a history of injuries with him, it is only natural to wonder when – not if – Griffin will get hurt.

Well, it turns out that when was the fourth quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Griffin scrambled for 11 yards with just under four minutes remaining and, instead of sliding, chose to run chest first into Eagles cornerback Jalen Mills.

The hit left Griffin’s left arm looking limp for the rest of the game and now the Browns say that he will undergo tests on his shoulder on Monday.

Griffin tried to downplay the injury following the game.

“The play happened, and you just got to move on from it,” he said, according to ESPN. “You know, sprained shoulder. Just gotta monitor it and see how it goes. We’ll see more tomorrow, see how my shoulder’s feeling and I’ll go from there.”

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While Griffin put on a brave face, ESPN’s Pat McManamon noted that Griffin did not use his left arm while getting dressed and used his right arm to retrieve something from his left pocket.

If Monday’s examination reveals that there is more to the injury, it would mark the second consecutive season that Cleveland’s starting quarterback was injured in the opening game of the season.

Last year it was Josh McCown, who was knocked out with a concussion on the game’s opening drive against the New York Jets and missed the home opener the following week against the Tennessee Titans.

If Griffin is unable to go this upcoming week in the home opener against the Baltimore Ravens, McCown would be in line to make the start in a reversal of last year’s events. Even by the Browns standards, this is a new one.

The disappointing part about the hit that Griffin took was that it was completely unnecessary. The game was already out of hand and all he had to do was slide to avoid taking a shot. While you want to applaud his moxie for giving his all, avoiding big hits should be a priority.

“The guy kind of surprised me there on the sideline trying to get out of bounds,” Griffin said of the hit, according to cleveland.com. “It was an unfortunate play.  Just trying to score a touchdown and put us in a position to have a chance to win the game.  It hurt pretty bad but I felt like I had to get back out there and finish the battle with my teammates out on the field.”

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Griffin was clearly hurting after the play remained in the game to not only finish out the drive, but also returned for the final three-play drive to close out the game. Why head coach Hue Jackson put him back in the game at that point will certainly be a point of discussion on Monday.