Orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews admitted he was worried about Robert Griffin III's knee before the NFC Wild Card game. He added that RG3 originally went back into the game when first injured Dec. 9 without his approval.
Redskins coach Mike Shanahan claimed Andrews said, "Yeah, he's OK to go back in" while he continued to run the team.
Andrews explained himself to The Washington Post, but didn't take the hard stance he did before Sunday's game.
"Coach Shanahan didn't lie about it, and I didn't lie," Andrews said. "I didn't get to examine (Griffin's knee) because he came out for one play, didn't let us look at him and on the next play, he ran through all the players and back out onto the field. Coach Shanahan looks at me like, 'Is he OK?' and I give him the 'Hi' sign as in, 'He's running around, so I guess he's OK.' But I didn't get to check him out until after the game. It was just a communication problem. Heat of battle. I didn't get to tell him I didn't get to examine the knee. Mike Shanahan would never have put him out there at risk just to win a game."
The back-and-forth and detailed examination of the situation isn't a surprise. RG3 commands that kind of attention and his mobility is a big part of his uniqueness. The strange part is Andrews went from saying Griffin "scared the hell out of me" to downgrading his feelings to "just a communication problem."
Something about the story seems to have changed after Griffin suffered partial tears to the anterior cruciate and the lateral collateral ligaments.
Follow Kareem Copeland on Twitter @kareemcopeland.
