The Sports Xchange

Just hours before an independent neurologist announced Robert Griffin III was not cleared from a concussion, Washington Redskins head coach Jay Gruden said the quarterback had been given final medical clearance from multiple doctors to play in Saturday night’s preseason game.

“He is cleared from all the doctors, the neurologist he has been cleared,” Gruden said Friday afternoon in an interview taped with NFL Network before the news broke. “We still want to talk to the player and make sure he is ready to go mentally and our trainers make sure they feel like he is ready to go also. Being cleared by the doctor does not mean the player is feeling 100 percent, so we gotta make sure he feels ready to go to.”

A few hours later the neurologist said he wants Griffin to be retested before returning to the field from a concussion, meaning Griffin was not been cleared to play Saturday night against the Baltimore Ravens and casting doubt into his availability for the season opener in two weeks.

Dr. Robert Kurtzke said Friday in a statement: “Upon further scrutiny today of the neuropsychology data, I agree with the neuropsychologist that he should be held from game play this weekend and be retested in one to two weeks before a firm conclusion to return to game play can be made.”

Griffin suffered concussion-like symptoms in an Aug. 20 preseason game against the Detroit Lions, but practiced all week and was initially cleared by Dr. Kurtzke.

Griffin was pummeled by the Lions, getting sacked three times in the span of five plays and apparently suffering a head injury when defensive end Corey Wootton pounced on Griffin during a scramble to recover the quarterback’s fumble.

Griffin declined this week to confirm that he indeed had a concussion.

“You have to talk to the people who report that stuff,” he said.

There also was caution from Griffin when he talked to reporters Thursday.

“I feel good, just trying to take care of everything and be as cautious as possible,” RG3 said. “It’s not about anything but my family and them caring for me and my well-being. My teammates care about me and are asking about me every day. I’ll just follow the protocol and see what happens.”

Griffin tweeted Friday night after the announcement that he must sit this weekend.

“Trusting in God even when I don’t understand why certain things happen. James 1:2-3 (NLT),” he tweeted.

Kirk Cousins is expected to start in place of Griffin against the Ravens.