Daily Madden: Should RG III Have Stayed In The Game?
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - Playing with an injured knee, Redskins quarterback RG III was visibly limping but stayed in the game until the knee buckled in the fourth quarter in Washington's loss to Seattle Sunday. Should he have been taken out of the game earlier?
"Unless you're there, it's really, really hard to second guess on that one," John Madden told the KCBS morning crew. "Once they lose the lead and lose the game, it's kind of easy to second guess."
But the former coach said he was surprised Griffin stayed in the game once it was clear he was hurting in the second half.
"He limped for nine yards, and that one kind of showed me then that he can't run or isn't a threat to run... There was a time in that second half where I said 'I think maybe you better be thinking about taking him out.'"
It's not clear why he apparently wasn't examined by the team doctor during the game.
"There's no coach that I know of that if the doctor said this guy cannot play any more, would play him. I mean that's the final word. And I'm not taking it off the coach and putting it on the doctors, but the coach is still coaching. You have to think ahead, you have to call plays, what's the defense doing, you know all these things. Then the medical people behind you should be checking and taking care of the guy."
Madden said the player also must share some responsibility for the decision to play or not.
"Part of it is the player, part of it is the coach -- and not only the head coach but his staff -- and then again that's why you have the doctors to make those decisions of go or no go." (8:10)
Listen to the John Madden segment live weekday mornings at 8:15 on KCBS All News 740 AM/106.9 FM. And catch John's extra report at 9:15 a.m. Mondays and Fridays during the NFL season.
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