Report: RG3 ran scout team at Redskins practice ... as a safety

Eric Edholm
Report: RG3 ran scout team at Redskins practice ... as a safety

We knew Robert Griffin III wasn't going to be the Washington Redskins' starting quarterback. We suspected he'd be third-team. But at safety?

According to NFL Network's Jeff Darlington, Griffin was running with the scout team defense — yes, defense — this past week as a safety as the Redskins prepared for the Miami Dolphins, their Week 1 opponent.

Oh, how the former franchise quarterback has fallen the past few seasons.

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And it brings up the legitimate question of ... why?

Griffin had been cleared only recently from the preseason concussion that essentially knocked him out of a starting role and elevated Kirk Cousins into the starting spot. So the Redskins thought it was a good idea to put him at safety in practice? That's insane.

Is it demeaning? For an enterprising team to use an athletic player in a role to help out his shorthanded team in practice is one thing. But for the Redskins to stick a concussion-slowed, balky-kneed former starting quarterback into scout-team duty on defense feels strange on many levels. As if the coaching staff is saying it's the only way Griffin can help the Redskins out this season.

But it comes with risk to the team. If Griffin were to have injured himself in practice and landed on injured reserve, it would have forced the club to guarantee the $16.2 million fifth-year tender it picked up on Griffin back in March. One bad decision, it would appear, could beget another.

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There's little hope of this ending well in any way for Griffin in D.C., as he needs to move on if he has any hope of reviving his once-promising career, which got off to a rousing start in 2012 but has been downhill ever since he suffered a late-season knee injury as a rookie.

This is now the second straight coaching staff, first Mike Shanahan as head coach and now Jay Gruden, that appears intent on sticking it to Griffin in some way. Why, in both cases, remains unclear. As are the Redskins' plans for their fallen star, either for the present as a spare part or in the future, perhaps as a vestige of trade bait.

Any teams out there need a third-string safety? The cost: Only $16 million! Come one, come all ...

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!