Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III is facing surgery this week to repair tears to the LCL in his right knee and to determine the damage to the ACL in that same knee, as first reported by Adam Schefter of ESPN.
The Redskins' dual-threat quarterback appeared to re-aggravate a pre-existing injury early in a playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday and was eventually forced to leave the game after his right knee buckled underneath him as he reached for a low snap during the fourth quarter.
Citing an unnamed source, ESPN reported that Griffin "likely tore at least part of his ACL," as well.
On Monday, the Washington Post reported that an MRI of Griffin's knee revealed "at least partial tears" to both ligaments, according to sources with knowledge of the test results.
Redskins coach Mike Shanahan told reporters on Monday that it was proving difficult to ascertain the extent of the damage due to previous injuries to the knee. Griffin tore the ACL in his right knee in 2009 while at Baylor University.
Shanahan came under fire during and after the Redskins' 24-14 loss to the Seahawks for keeping a visibly-impaired Griffin on the field. Wearing a bulky knee brace since spraining his LCL against the Baltimore Ravens on Dec. 9, Griffin was not his explosive self against the Seahawks. After an awkward fall during the first quarter, the 22-year-old quarterback was noticeably limping. Nevertheless, Shanahan stuck with RG3 into the fourth quarter, when he went down for good.