ASHBURN, Va. -- Robert Griffin III could get the all-clear to play in the regular season when he meets with his surgeon Thursday night.
Washington Redskins coach Mike Shanahan said Tuesday that Griffin will meet with Dr. James Andrews while the Redskins are in Florida for their final preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
"I know Dr. Andrews will sit down and evaluate Robert and probably just give us his recommendation," Shanahan said.
Even if Andrews gives the thumbs-up, the final decision on whether Griffin plays in the Sept. 9 opener rests with the coach. Shanahan has said that even if Griffin is medically ready, the coach could see something in practice that might give him pause.
Andrews cleared Griffin for practice before the start of training camp but has yet to give the OK for the quarterback to play in games. Andrews examined Griffin again before the Aug. 19 home preseason game and "felt very good" about Griffin's progress, according to Shanahan.
While Griffin has sat out the preseason, he's moved well in practice and told ESPN 980 on Tuesday that he's "not below 100 percent."
"You're hoping he's 100 percent," Shanahan said. "The reason I'm a little iffy on that is I want to judge him every day. But I have not seen a setback; he looks good. I've seen much improvement from the first day to where he is now."
Griffin had reconstructive surgery on his right knee in January, a few days after he was hurt in the Redskins' playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks. He's made a remarkable recovery, given the nature of the injury, and has not missed a day of practice.
"You can see he's in football shape," Shanahan said. "And there hasn't been a setback, so everything's been very positive."
With backup Kirk Cousins nursing a sprained right foot, the Redskins are again down to two quarterbacks - Rex Grossman and Pat White - for Thursday. Because Shanahan usually prefers not to play most of his starters and longtime veterans in the final preseason game, he plans to rest Grossman as well.
"Pat White will play the entire game, unless he goes down. If he goes down, Rex will go in. If he goes down, I'm going in," Shanahan said with a laugh.
Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press
