Robert Griffin III Reportedly Set to Undergo Knee Surgery

It is worse than originally thought. Dynamic rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III is reportedly undergoing complete reconstructive surgery for ACL and LCL tears.

UPDATE: Thursday, Jan. 10 at 10:19 a.m. ET

Great news for Redskins fans as the belief within the organization is that Robert Griffin III will be ready for the 2013 season after undergoing knee surgery yesterday, according to Washington Post's Mike Jones.

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Orthopedic surgeon James Andrews said Wednesday that he repaired one ligament in the right knee of Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III and reconstructed another for the second time, according to a statement released by the team.

The surgeon said 'it is everybody’s hope and belief' that Griffin 'will be ready for the 2013 season.'  Andrews performed about five hours of surgery on the Redskins injured star quarterback Wednesday morning.

'Robert Griffin III had successful knee surgery early this morning. He had a direct repair of his LCL and a re-do of his previous ACL reconstruction,' the statement said. 'We expect a full recovery and it is everybody’s hope and belief that due to Robert’s high motivation, he will be ready for the 2013 season.  The goal of his treatment is to give him the best opportunity for a long professional career.'

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UPDATE: Wednesday, Jan. 9 at 3:10 p.m. by Timothy Rapp

The Redskins updated Griffin's status via a series of tweets on Wednesday afternoon, all of which were derived from a statement by Dr. James Andrews after the surgery:

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"@rgiii had successful knee surgery early this morning. He had a direct repair of his LCL and a re-do of his previous ACL reconstruction...

— Redskins (@Redskins) January 9, 2013"

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"We expect a full recovery and it is everybody's hope and belief that due to @rgiii's high motivation, he will be ready for the 2013 season.

— Redskins (@Redskins) January 9, 2013"

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...The goal of his treatment is to give him the best opportunity for a long professional career."

— Redskins (@Redskins) January 9, 2013"

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UPDATE: Wednesday, Jan. 9 at 12:35 p.m. by Timothy Rapp

According to Mark Maske of The Washington Post, RG3 is now out of surgery:

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A person familiar with the situation said that Robert Griffin III’s knee surgery was completed just after noon Wednesday.

Dr. James Andrews repaired both Griffin’s lateral collateral and anterior cruciate ligaments, the person said. According to that person, Griffin plans to remain in Florida for the foreseeable future to be monitored and begin his rehabilitation. The initial six to eight weeks of recovery are considered critical key to his rehabilitation, the person said.

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UPDATE: Wednesday, Jan. 9 at 1:13 a.m. by Mike Hoag

ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported the news via Twitter early Wednesday morning. The projected recovery time for this type of surgery is six to eight months, according to Mortensen:

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Redskins QB Robert Griffin III will undergo total reconstruction of knee for complete tear of ACL and LCL. Recovery projection: 6-8 mos.

— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) January 9, 2013"

Griffin's recovery will be the most talked about and speculated event of the offseason. How will it affect his continued presence in the league and effectiveness as a mobile quarterback?

Will he rebound as quickly as Adrian Peterson and come back better than ever?

Mortensen also confirmed that Dr. James Andrews will perform the surgery early on Wednesday morning and that it is a complete tear of the graft that held his knee together after a 2009 knee injury at Baylor:

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Dr. James Andrews will perform surgery in about 6 hours. Diagnosis already made that ACL graft of @rgiii's 2009 surgery is complete tear

— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) January 9, 2013"

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SportsCenter passed along the initial news on Tuesday, via NFL insider Adam Schefter:

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Source: RG III expected to undergo surgery this week on torn LCL. At that time damage to his ACL will be reviewed (via @adamschefter)

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 8, 2013"

Obviously, a great deal of his recovery time hinges on what they find with the ACL. 

Recoveries from knee injuries are always going to vary, and this is a player who already had an ACL tear while in college, which is likely why doctors are having a hard time figuring out the extent of the damage to his ACL now. 

As the season came to a close, RGIII was nursing a right-knee injury that he initially sustained in Week 14 versus Baltimore, and it ultimately forced him from the Redskins' 24-14 playoff loss to the Seahawks. 

He looked fairly strong to start Sunday's playoff game, but he tweaked the injury while performing a quick stop and throw, and he was limping badly after. 

Then Griffin's knee noticeably buckled in the second half as he tried to make a quick lateral move to recover a poor snap. He instantly fell to the turf and remained there for several moments. 

He was able to get off the field under his own power and stuck around the sidelines as the game concluded, but there were no doubts that his knee was not right. 

Mike Shanahan made the call to leave Griffin in, and he has come under intense fire for doing so. News of this surgery is not going to help that. For his sake, and football fans everywhere, hopefully the ACL is not also torn.