Adrian Peterson understands the need for patience when returning from a major injury. He also understands the feeling of wanting to get out on the field as soon as possible before the real NFL season begins. The running back's 2012 offseason is the exact same of Robert Griffin III's offseason this year. The Washington Redskins quarterback is coming back from ACL surgery and trying to find a balance between preparation and patience.
Griffin has been anxious to get some preseason snaps before Week 1, but he has yet to receive total clearance from Dr. James Andrews who performed the original ACL surgery. Griffin has been at practice and running with the first team, but has not seen any game-time action. His views differ from those of head coach Mike Shanahan who is not about to throw his prized possession right back into the fire.
"We see progress," Shanahan said, via Sporting News. "One of the reasons we didn't throw him right into the fire is we didn't think he was ready right away. If he keeps on progressing like he has been, he'll be ready for Monday night."
Peterson understands where the coaching and medical staff is coming from with Griffin. The quarterback is young and has put in the work when it comes to rehabbing and getting healthy and the running back says it is natural for him to want to jump right back in to full activity. Peterson intends on reaching out to Griffin in the coming week to see how he is feeling about the whole injury and see where his head is at.
"I'm rooting him on to play in that first game,'' Peterson said. "I'm sure (Griffin) has shown them enough to say he's healthy and strong and ready to play, but as a head coach, he's over him, and you can understand why he wants to wait until the regular season. He's really the face of the franchise. They have to take care of that."
Griffin says no matter what, he intends on not changing his ways on and off the field. He has become a spotlight for the media throughout this entire rehab process, but just because he now holds a super star status, he will not change his willingness to be a very open public speaker.
"I sat down and talked to a few people to make a decision: 'Do I stop being who I am, stop being honest with you guys and give you guys ammunition to turn against this team, or do I just go into a shell and Bill Belichick it all week?'" Griffin said. "I'm just going to continue to be who I am. And if something like that does happen, you make the statement to make sure everybody gets its clear."
