The Sports Xchange

The Washington Redskins plan to keep Robert Griffin III as their backup quarterback and will not release him ahead of the roster deadline, according to multiple reports Saturday.

Head coach Jay Gruden Gruden announced Monday that Kirk Cousins would be the starter this season but downplayed speculation over Griffin’s future with the team.

“His future is with the Washington Redskins,” Gruden said Monday.

NFL Media and the Washington Post reported that Griffin would remain on Washington’s 53-man roster. All NFL teams must reduce their rosters to 53 players by 4 p.m. ET Saturday.

Griffin was scheduled to start last Saturday night in a preseason game in Baltimore, but he was scratched the previous day in the wake of a concussion suffered on Aug. 20 against the Detroit Lions.

Redskins owner Daniel Snyder and president Bruce Allen want to keep Griffin despite the financial risk associated with retaining the former Heisman Trophy winner, a source told ESPN.

Snyder, general manager Scot McCloughan and Gruden all have approved the decision to keep Griffin, according to NFL Media.

Griffin was scheduled to consult with an independent neurologist Friday. The Redskins still are awaiting word for RG3 to be fully cleared in the league’s concussion protocol.

Meanwhile, Colt McCoy has been told that he will be listed as No. 2 on the depth chart for the Week 1 game against the Miami Dolphins, Albert Breer of NFL Network reported.

“Ultimately … it’s my job to say who starts,” Gruden said Monday. “I like Robert as a quarterback. … The door is not shut on Robert Griffin. There have been no discussions about letting him go. We plan on playing with these three quarterbacks. Last year, we used all three. We didn’t want to, but we had to. I anticipate Kirk taking this job and running with it. I don’t want him to go out there and every incompletion see if (another) quarterback’s warming up.”