RG3 Sits; Redskins Still Win Preseason Opener

As expected, Robert Griffin III sat out the Washington Redskins‘ preseason opener, but the Skins still looked good with Rex Grossman and Kirk Cousins under center in Thursday’s 22-21 comeback win against the Tennessee Titans.

It’s unclear when Griffin will return to full-time action, but his team showed they are capable of getting the job done without him. Cousins was particularly impressive, posting a quarterback rating of 137.2 in two series by completing six of seven passes for 52 yards and a touchdown.

“For him to win the second position last year he really had to do it quickly,” Redskins coach Mike Shanahan said, according to ESPN.com. “He’s been impressive from the moment that he got here. He’s a student of the game. He’s got God-given talent and he’s bright guy who works extremely hard.”

Though Griffin didn’t play, he did show his recovery is coming along as he participated in warm ups and donned the team’s uniform for the coin toss.

“Robert wanted to get some more work done, and it was good to see him out there,” Shanahan said.

Former West Virginia standout Pat White also got some work in at QB, as he led the Redskins on the game-winning drive with just over two minutes to play. White scampered into the endzone from nine yards out and then connected with Emmanuel Ogbuehi for the two-point conversion to avoid overtime.

While the Titans ended up on the losing end, they received some solid and promising production out of running back Chris Johnson and QB Jake Locker. Johnson only got the ball twice, but he made the most of those opportunities, turning one of those carries into a 58-yard TD run in the first quarter.

“My offensive line, they got a great push on it, and they pushed those guys to the right side and gave me a cutback lane,” Johnson said.

Meanwhile, Locker showed off his strong arm a bit, completing seven of 11 throws for 58 yards. He was sacked twice, however, which forced Tennessee to mix in the run game more.

Fans of both teams had to have liked what they saw, but there is obviously still plenty of concern surrounding Griffin and if he will be healthy enough to start the regular season opener. However, the Skins showed that they may be stronger team without him than we initially thought, so even if he isn’t ready to go on day one, bettors may want to stick with Washington in certain games.