Joe Theismann Has Spent Some Time with an Optimistic Robert Griffin III

So we mentioned earlier this morning that Robert Griffin III has finally broken his silence on his recovery from the major knee surgery the Washington Redskins quarterback underwent a month ago, and there were some positive signs when Griffin made that first public appearance Saturday in New Orleans.

This weekend, I caught up with another famous Redskins quarterback at the Rolling Stone Super Bowl party in New Orleans, and Joe Theismann was upbeat about RG3's recovery. 

"I spent a little time with Robert and he seems to be doing very well," Theismann told me. "His spirits are very high and I think he's excited about what he's going to be able to do going forward."

He added that Adrian Peterson's quick recovery from knee surgery last offseason should be an "inspiration to every guy." Peterson was back less than eight months after surgery, which is unusually fast. But what's most impressive is that AP was able to make a run at the single-season rushing yards record while capturing the 2012 MVP.

"Now, you expect RG3 to come back and be better than ever," said Theismann. 

Theismann's career ended 27 years ago due to a horrific injury, so you'd think he'd have trouble telling Griffin that there's hope. But he notes that things have changed a lot in the quarter-century since then. 

"Medically so many things have changed in the last 20 years, and I think one of the things that's important is that it's the mental makeup of the athlete that's important, but now the medicine helps them get back so quickly. We never had robotic type of surgeries. We didn't have non-invasive surgeries. For us, when you got hurt, the recovery time was more about your muscles healing because they had to cut them to get to the injury. Nowadays, you don't have to worry about that."

Finally, Theismann had good things to say about 2012 fourth-round pick Kirk Cousins, who stepped in for Griffin late in the season and performed admirably. That has some 'Skins fans calling for the team to shop Cousins this offseason, but Griffin's status has to mean Cousins will be sticking around indefinitely.

"With RG3 on the shelf for a little while," he said, "I don't expect Kirk to be going anywhere."