At 0-10 on the season, the Cleveland Browns need a minor miracle to avoid joining the 2008 Detroit Lions as the only teams to lose all 16 games in a single season.
That miracle could potentially come in the form of Robert Griffin III, who has missed the past nine games with a shoulder injury. According to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, RGIII has been cleared for non-contact football activities.
#Browns QB Robert Griffin III has been cleared for non-contact activities but won’t practice yet. They’d need to designate him for return.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 16, 2016
The obvious caveat here is that he has yet to be designated to return from injured reserve, which means he’s not yet going to take the practice field with the team.
RGIII was injured in Cleveland’s season-opening loss to the Philadelphia Eagles and was immediately placed on IR. Though, he didn’t have to undergo surgery. That opened up the possibility that the former No. 2 overall pick could return this season.
Since the former Washington starter went down, Cleveland has seen five different quarterbacks take snaps under center. Last week alone, rookie Cody Kessler was benched in favor of Josh McCown in the team’s 28-7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
It remains to be seen when RGIII might return, but head of football operations Sashi Brown did indicate earlier this week that the team anticipates the quarterback will be able to play again this season.