Griffin eager to help Browns get first win
Quarterback to start Sunday following long layoff with an injury
Three months later, Robert Griffin III is starting anew with the Browns.
RG3 wants to make the wait worth it.
“It’s all about being in the right situation at the right time,” he said Thursday.
Griffin, who didn’t make it out of Cleveland’s season opener without getting hurt, will make his second start on Sunday when the 0-12 Browns host the Cincinnati Bengals.
Griffin hasn’t played since breaking a bone in his left shoulder in the Sept. 11 season opener at Philadelphia, an injury that only strengthened the argument that he’s brittle and set the stage for the worst stretch in Browns history.
But after showing coach Hue Jackson in practice that he’s healthy and ready, Griffin will make just his second start since 2014.
It’s another chance to show doubters that he’s durable and perhaps the beginning of a four-game audition to prove to the Browns that he can be their long-term answer at quarterback.
“My job is to go out there and make them believe that,” he said. “Every single day that you come into the building, you have to show the coaches, show the organization you’re going to do what it takes to be that guy.
“That doesn’t change just because they name you the starter or just because you’re playing. It’s an everyday thing. Not just a Sunday thing.”
Jets: Nick Mangold’s season is over — and so might his tenure with New York. The star center was placed on injured reserve with an ankle injury after aggravating it during the Jets’ 41-10 loss to Indianapolis on Monday night. Mangold will be replaced by Wesley Johnson at center.
Panthers: Quarterback Cam Newton said that while this season has been “demoralizing,” his struggles on the field aren’t from a lack of preparation. Newton’s numbers are way down from his MVP season a year ago when he threw 35 TD passes and led the Panthers to an appearance in the Super Bowl. He has only 14 TD passes through 11 games and the Panthers (4-8) are all but out of playoff contention entering Sunday’s game against San Diego. “It doesn’t matter how much I prepare, if it doesn’t translate on the field people will say ‘Oh he’s garbage,’” Newton said. “So for me, it’s trying to get it to carry over from practice to games. It just hasn’t (translated) this season, and I don’t have nobody to blame but myself.”
Broncos: Von Miller’s lead-leading sack total jumped to 13½. The NFL belatedly credited Miller with a strip-sack for his play late in the fourth quarter that sealed Denver’s 20-10 win at Jacksonville on Sunday.
Falcons: Atlanta cornerback Robert Alford signed a $38-million four-year contract extension with the team. Alford has recorded nine interceptions, returning two of those interceptions for touchdowns, during his career.
Giants: Police are investigating a break-in and the scrawling of racist graffiti at the New Jersey home of New York player Nikita Whitlock. The crime is being investigated as a hate crime, Moonachie police Sgt. Richard Behrens told The Record. Jewelry and electronics were also stolen, he said. Whitlock, who’s black, showed reporters the graffiti — “KKK,” a swastika and other racial slurs — on multiple walls inside his family’s home. The name “Trump” was also written on the wall in marker.