Robert Griffin III on track to start this week, Jay Gruden says

Robert Griffin III will be the Washington Redskins' starting quarterback this week if nothing goes wrong before Sunday's game, coach Jay Gruden said.

It'll probably take until Griffin's first incompletion for someone to mention that Colt McCoy led the team to two wins in a row, including a victory on Monday night at Dallas, but there's really no decision here. McCoy, even with a nice game at Dallas, isn't the long-term answer at quarterback. Griffin should be that answer, although the second half of the season will go a long way in determining that.

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A very important evaluation penalty begins on Sunday against Minnesota.

"He's played five quarters of football as a starting quarterback for me, since I've been here, and he's got a lot to prove, as we do," said Gruden, who is in his first season as Washington's coach. "But be's our starter and we feel like he gives us the best chance to win. That's the bottom line. Which quarterback, when all three are healthy, gives us the best chance to win? We made the decision back in training camp it was Robert. He deserves the chance to prove us right."

Gruden made it clear that Griffin is healthy. He has been out since Week 2 with a dislocated ankle. He practiced with the starters on Wednesday.

"We wouldn't put him with the ones if we didn't feel like he was 100 percent physically," Gruden said in his press conference, which is streamed on the team's site. "Every intent right now, moving forward, is to prepare him to be the starting quarterback."

Gruden was hopeful Griffin would be able to make all the throws and reads, especially on new plays that have been put in while he was out, but that will be the overarching question for the rest of the season anyway. How does Griffin adapt to Gruden's offense? Can he function in the pocket on a consistent basis? Kirk Cousins is effectively out of the picture as Washington's future quarterback, after a terrible stint replacing Griffin. McCoy isn't that guy either.

Can Griffin be Washington's franchise quarterback? He obviously has the talent for it. The Redskins want to find out for sure to feel comfortable going into 2015 and beyond with him. Washington better hope Griffin passes that test, because they gave up a ton of draft picks to land him in 2012. We'll start to find out on Sunday.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab

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