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So is RG3 "All In for Week 1," as he claims in an Adidas ad? It's the question that has devoured the entire off-season. Or at least the part of the off-season not devoured by the fusillade of questions Shanahan faced after the Seattle loss. The ones about whether the Redskins head coach should have overruled his bullheaded but clearly hobbled rookie QB and taken him out. The borderline-hostile questions about whether he, the 61-year-old man in charge, should have made the long-view decision that would have prevented the injury that now threatens the future of the franchise.

Griffin is thoroughly and understandably sick of these questions. He takes pains to point out that "all in" means he's doing everything he can to be ready. It's his "goal." (Shanahan, drily: "Well, you always want somebody to have goals, that's for sure.") Griffin says his rehab is ahead of schedule and that he expects to start the regular season. Ultimately, though, both the quarterback= and his coach maintain that it'll be the doctors who decide.

As for why the hell he stayed in the Seattle game when anyone could see that he was way too hurt to play, Griffin tells me that he's already said—many times—what he's going to say about that, which is that it was the playoffs, his team needed him, gridiron warrior cliché, etc., etc., etc. But then, when I half-jokingly ask if he has any rehab advice for Bryce Harper, the Washington Nationals left fielder who has just tried to play through his own knee injury, only to reinjure himself and miss more than a month of the season, Griffin's nuanced answer shows that he's beginning to understand how to survive long-term in the NFL.

"If I start talking about Bryce, I'll be a Captain Hindsight, which is what we call people who say, 'Should've done that.' But okay, being a Captain Hindsight, if doc tells you to sit out, you sit out," he says. "I'm a team guy. That's why I was out there playing with the injury I had. I wasn't doing that for self-fame. I was doing that for the team. I wanted to show that I'll do anything for them. So much so that I blew my knee out, and that's fine. But I think, after the fact, that while you have to do what's best for the team, you also have to do what's best for you. So if his [Harper's] knee is messed up and it's not responding, then he doesn't play. That would be my advice to Bryce: Whatever they tell you, you decide what to do for you, and that's best for the team."

Whenever he comes back, week one or week four or week nine (fat chance), all those questions about the balance between his running game and passing attack will surface once again. In fact, they've never really gone away, not even in the doldrums of the off-season. In May, RG3's dad told The Washington Post, "I just know that based on what I know Robert can do, he doesn't have to be a runner as much as I saw last year.... I'm his dad—I want him throwing that football, a lot. A lot."

When I speak to RG2, he makes an effort to be diplomatic. "I will not tell Coach Shanahan how to do any part of his job," he says, "because he's been doing this for a long time." But he stands by his opinion—and then some.

"You tell a kid that you want him to be there for fourteen years, guess what? Historical data will tell you that the more he runs, the more subject he is to career injury," he says. "You name one quarterback out there that would rather run the football than throw the football and I'll show you a loser."

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RG3 and his mom have a long-running tradition. Every week during football season, normally on Thursday or Friday, he sits down in front of her and she braids his hair. "In the military, it was very important that you kept your appearance neat and tidy," says Jackie. "You don't want him to be all messed up. You want him to look nice and neat and putting his best foot forward."

There's nothing superstitious or ritualistic about it, it's just a "bonding time" for mother and son to sit quietly and catch up. They talk about life, and they talk about football. About playing smart and playing safe. They talk about being grateful for all they have, about maintaining a constant relationship with God. Not outwardly, so everyone has to hear it, but inwardly. Privately. And sometimes, when they've finished talking, they'll put their hands together and do the same thing that, if all goes according to plan, many of us will be doing the first time RG3 sprints into hostile Eagles territory: "Just praying."

Brendan Vaughan is the ecutive editor of GQ.