Washington Redskins star Robert Griffin III has officially completed surgery to fix the knee he injured Sunday in the NFL Playoffs.
Sources told the Washington Post that the rookie phenom was undergoing surgery at 7 a.m. on Wednesday.
Griffin reportedly has a tear in his lateral collateral ligament located in his right knee, which could put the NFL's newest star on a long road to recovery.
NFL sports reporter Jeff Darington tweeted at 11:41 a.m. Wednesday, "Surgery is complete for Robert Griffin III, source tells me. Dr. James Andrews found enough damage to the ACL to require it to be repaired."
ESPN is reporting that Griffin will require total reconstructive surgery on his knee to fix tears in his LCL and ACL ligaments. Griffin is expected, however, to return for the start of next season, according to team sources.
The procedure was to be watched over by renowned orthopedist James Andrews., a person familiar with the situation told the Associated Press.
The news comes after Griffin was examined by Andrews in Florida on Tuesday.
A damaged LCL ligament would require between three to six months of rehabilitation, on average, which would cut into Griffin's training camp schedule for the next season, and possibly cause the rookie star to miss the start of the 2013 NFL season.
If his ACL is damaged as well, however, it could take Griffin up to a year for recover fully from the injury, meaning he would likely miss the 2013 season, or a large chunk of it.
Griffin, who threw for 3,200 yards and 20 touchdowns this season as he led the Redskins to the NFC East title, sprained his LCL in a game last month against Baltimore, and reaggravated the injury in Sunday's playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks when he tried to recover a bad snap late in the fourth quarter.
However, Redskins coach Mike Shanahan was drawn into controversy for his decision to leave Griffin in the game after he was visibly limping in the first half of the game, some on Twitter even calling for his firing.
Griffin, however, took to Twitter to defend his coach and his decision to stay in the game.
Before surgery on Wednesday, Griffin sent out the following tweet: "Thank you for your prayers and support. I love God, my family, my team, the fans, & I love this game. See you guys next season."
- Contribute to this Story:
- Send us a tip
- Send us a photo or video
- Suggest a correction
