Browns designate Robert Griffin III as player to return from IR

As expected, the Cleveland Browns officially designated QB Robert Griffin III as their player to return from injured reserve, and he will return to practice today.

Griffin can practice for 21 days, but if the Browns don’t officially remove him from injured reserve during that stretch, he will remain on injured reserve for the rest of the season. Barring a setback, every expectation is that he will be activated at some point. Whether the team activates him for this week’s game against the New York Giants remains to be seen.

Head coach Hue Jackson has already named Josh McCown as the starting quarterback against the New York Giants, as rookie Cody Kessler is out with a concussion. Kevin Hogan and Joe Callahan, another pair of rookies, would be available as backups.

The scenario that many are expecting is that Cleveland uses their bye next week to get Griffin prepared to start for the team’s Week 14 home game against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Browns would have four games left in the season, and that might be enough for Jackson to get the type of evaluation he wanted to have out of Griffin heading into 2017.

The designation being used on Griffin also means that OLB Nate Orchard, the other potential candidate to return, won’t be back in 2016.