Robert Griffin III questionable for Sunday with mild knee sprain

Robert Griffin III might start for the Redskins this Sunday against the Browns in Cleveland.

The dual-threat rookie quarterback for Washington has a mild sprain of the lateral collateral ligament, which is on the outside of the knee, after his leg was whiplashed quite violently when he was hit by Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle Haloti Ngata after a 13-yard scramble late in the game Sunday.

“When I looked at it on film, I thought it would be worse than it was,” Redskins Coach Mike Shanahan said during his news conference Monday.

Shanahan was noncommittal when it came to this week’s preparation, which begins Wednesday when the team resumes practice.

Backup quarterback Kirk Cousins, also a rookie, led the Redskins to a last-minute touchdown drive that culminated in an 11-yard scoring strike to Pierre Garcon and ran in a two-point conversion to tie the score and force overtime, during which Washington won the game, 26-23, on a 34-yard field goal by Kai Forbath.

The Redskins are now in the thick of the playoff race with a 7-6 record following their fourth consecutive victory.

“Both of them will have a game plan,” Shanahan said of his two first-year quarterbacks.

The fact that Griffin will have two full days of treatment before the next practice could be pivotal.

“You’re hoping with rehab it gets better very quickly,” Shanahan said. “But we don’t know for sure. ... He’s definitely not ruled out for the Cleveland game.”

Griffin, who was selected second overall in the draft behind Indianapolis’ Andrew Luck, leads the NFL with a 104.2 passer rating. He also broke the rookie quarterback rushing record set last season by Cam Newton.

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