Team news: Atlanta Falcons | Page 33

Redskins coach Jay Gruden has been impressed with the way quarterback Robert Griffin III has worked to rehab his injured ankle but a little over two weeks after the injury Gruden still doesn’t have a good idea of when Griffin might be able to play again.

“He’s doing a great job. For whatever injury he has, he’s probably going to recover quicker than the normal human being, faster than anyone, probably,” said Gruden. “So it won’t surprise me when he comes back, I’m sure he’ll be quicker than normal. He’s doing everything he can to get right but what that timetable is, I have no idea. Only his body will know and the trainers.”

Kirk Cousins will have a tough schedule ahead, starting this week with Seattle. After lighting up the Eagles, Cousins struggled last week against the Giants and may not be etched in stone as the team's starter when RGIII returns.

In Thursday night’s debacle against the New York Giants, Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins reverted to the turnover-prone form that he displayed in limited action during the first two seasons of his career.

Cousins posted a career-worst five turnovers (four interceptions, one fumble lost) while throwing for just one touchdown. In 11 game appearances since his rookie year in 2012 – six of them starts – Cousins has recorded 15 interceptions and three lost fumbles to go with 14 touchdown passes. He has thrown multiple interceptions in four of those games.

Redskins coach Jay Gruden called Cousins’ penchant for turning the ball over worrisome, but said the young quarterback was hardly the sole problem in Thursday’s game.

“It’s worrisome, [but] you have to take the game for what it is. We lost the game, he didn’t play very well, he threw four picks, we understand that, and a fumble, but he didn’t have a lot of help, either,” Gruden said. “There weren’t a lot of people – the defense didn’t help him out, the offensive line didn’t help him out, the receivers didn’t help him out. There’s a lot of other factors that we could have had better game, a better outing, if other people were helping more. It’s not just Kirk. Kirk, his mistakes are magnified obviously, but there are other guys who had mistakes that were equally important and devastating to the football game. We just have to continue to work to get better, and we will, but we’re not going to hold Kirk’s head under the water right now. We’re going to keep him composed and getting better, and he’s going to be fine next week.”

Cousins lit up the Eagles defense but coming into a short week had completely different results against an equally bad Giants defense. Things don't get much easier in terms of matchups outside of the Cowboys in Week 8 - the Skins will face four top-half defenses in terms of allowing fantasy points to QBs: Seahawks Week 5, Cardinals Week 6, Titans Week 7 and Vikings Week 9 leading up to the Week 10 bye.

Redskins QB Robert Griffin III (ankle, out) was ruled out for Week 4. Kirk Cousins will once again be a Sneaky Start in a good matchup against the Giants.

Last week after saying that Robert Griffin III would miss a significant amount of time with a dislocated ankle, Jay Gruden said that Griffin’s starting quarterback job wasn’t necessarily going to be waiting for him when he was ready to play.

“We’ll cross that bridge when that comes,” he said.

On Tuesday, after backup QB Kirk Cousins completed 30 of 48 passes for 427 yards and three touchdowns in his first start of the season against the Eagles, Gruden had not changed his tune.

During a conference call with the New York media, Gruden was asked if he could see Cousins taking over as the starter on a permanent basis.

"Crazy things have happened in NFL," Jay Gruden said via Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News. "I'm not going to discount anything.”

Cousins will have a few weeks to earn the job and is off to a good start. The Skins have some tougher defenses coming up, though, so this stretch could go a long way in determining Cousins' status if/when RGIII returns.

Redskins QB Robert Griffin III (ankle, out) has been ruled out for Week 3. Kirk Cousins gets the start. In four previous starts, he averaged 269 yards with 1.5 TD and 1.5 INT, which equates to QB17-type numbers. He’s a Sneaky Start this week against a shaky Eagles defense.

Redskins QB Robert Griffin III (ankle) was ruled out for Week 3. Kirk Cousins gets the start. In four previous starts, he averaged 269 yards with 1.5 TD and 1.5 INT, which equates to QB17-type numbers. He’s a Sneaky Start this week against a shaky Eagles defense.

Redskins QB Robert Griffin III (ankle) was ruled out for Week 3. Kirk Cousins will get the start in a nice matchup against the Eagles.