. Buffalo has been without three key defensemen for a significant period of time

ASHBURN, Va. -- Robert Griffin IIIs rehab started with a "cry festival." Then came a special new passcode for his cellphone and a chance to hash things with coach Mike Shanahan. Theres also been a Twitter rant about political correctness, some flak about all the wedding gifts hes received and, most recently, a suggestion from his father that the Washington Redskins should pass the ball more. On Thursday, the road back included running some drills at an off-season practice. Wearing a helmet but no jersey and sporting a large brace on his reconstructed right knee, Griffin did some handoffs and throws with other teammates recovering from injuries. Its the latest step toward his goal of playing in the season opener in September. "As soon as I woke up out of the surgery, I put the date of the first game in my phone," Griffin said. "It was the passcode of my phone for a month. ... Thats always been the goal, but Im not going to risk my career to play in one game. Yeah, Im definitely all-in on for Week 1, but Im also all-in for my career as well." It was Griffins first Redskins Park news conference of the off-season, an occasion that attracted an extraordinary media hoard to a routine May workout and showed again just how important the health of Griffins knee -- and everything else about him, for that matter -- has become in the nations capital. Start with the tears. When Griffin went under the knife on Jan. 9 -- three days after he was injured in the playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks -- he didnt know whether his ACL needed repair. When he awoke and realized that it had, he immediately went back to sleep because he couldnt deal with the news. "Its one of the things I get emotional about because it was tough at that time," Griffin said. "Yeah, I cried. Real men cry. Its doesnt matter. And I moved on. As soon as we finished our little cry festival, I put the date of the first week in my phone." In addition to the physical rehab, there also needed to be a meeting of the minds with Shanahan, who was widely criticized for leaving Griffin in the Seahawks game too long after it became clear the quarterback was injured. "We hashed everything out. We talked, and were moving forward from it," Griffin said. Griffin didnt go into specifics, instead stressing the need for everyone to be on the same page. Shanahan said the conversation was part of an overall review of the season. "You talk about things that you could have done differently," the coach said. "Things that went poorly during the season, things that went well." Griffin struck the same tone when asked about whether there should be changes to the offence, perhaps to take away some of his designed runs. He missed all or part of four games because of injuries last season, and his father told The Washington Post this week: "I want him throwing that football, a lot." "I told him thank you because thats what hes supposed to say as my father," Griffin said. "Yeah, he doesnt want to see me running out there; he wants to see me throwing the ball. Hes the one that trained me. He knows what he can do. Coach knows what I can do." Griffin also said he could make better decisions on the field to stay healthy. "The one thing everyone gets fired up about is that they say I need to change the way I play," he said. "And my view on that is: I cant change my mindset, but I can be smarter about what I do out there. Ive got a year of experience, which some might not think thats a lot, but a year of experience in the NFL is big for anyone. I know what I have to do and then what I dont have to do, so its about limiting those hits, making sure that Im staying out there for my teammates." While the rehab is tough, Griffin said its easier to endure because he also had an ACL injury while playing in college at Baylor. There were times during Thursdays practice when he seemed to be favouring the knee, but he was able to run and plant as he ran drills with what he called the "all-world uncleared team" that included fellow rehabbers Pierre Garcon and Fred Davis. "As long as you can get a little bit of work in, you still feel like youre part of the team -- even though were separated from the team," Griffin said. Griffin said the next two phases in his comeback are "explosive sprinting" and "cutting," both of which he hopes to accomplish in the next month or so. The Redskins keep saying hes "ahead of schedule," but its too early to gauge how much hell be able to practice when training camp begins in late July. "I really dont know what ahead of schedule means, except for the doctors, they keep saying hes ahead of schedule," Shanahan said. "We want to be patient with it." Griffins good-natured demeanour was a contrast to his sharp words in a pair of recent Twitter rants. Last month he tweeted that Americans "are held hostage by the tyranny of political correctness" and this week hit back at criticism he received for posting a photo of a pile of wedding presents sent to him by fans. "Its really been crazy," Griffin said Thursday. "You really cant do anything or say anything without it being blown out of proportion. When it comes to the political correctness tweet ... the only thing I will say about that is theres a difference between political correctness, common sense and being offensive." Griffin, who is getting married next month, then thanked the fans for the gifts that started pouring in after his wedding registry was made public. "I didnt ask you guys to do that," he said, addressing the fans. "The media made that public, and you guys decided to get me gifts out of the generosity of your heart. ... Anything else that came after that, criticism and stuff like that, youve just got to move on and not worry about it." Chris Tierney Jersey . 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He sat out the following game, a 108-107 win Saturday in Portland, before coming back to help send the Nuggets to their seventh consecutive loss. BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Washington Capitals will look for their third win over Buffalo in two weeks when they take on the Sabres on Friday night.The Capitals have suffered from inconsistent play in recent games, even in victories. After surrendering a 3-0 lead on Wednesday against the Boston Bruins, Washington survived with a 4-3 overtime victory. The players still held a players-only meeting after the game.We had a little talk in here and theres some things weve got to clean up, said forward T.J. Oshie, who returned against Boston after missing seven games with a shoulder injury. I think its more of mentality than it is any systems or anything like that. Once we get a step up on somebody, weve got to get that mentality that were going to finish them off.The Capitals havent had many problems against the Sabres in recent weeks, however. Washington picked up a 3-1 win over Buffalo on Nov. 25 and a 3-2 overtime over Buffalo on Dec. 5. In their most recent game, the Capitals came back from a late 3-2 deficit before winning in overtime. Marcus Johansson had both the game-tying goal and the game-winner in the victory.Nicklas Backstrom had the game-winner in overtime against Boston on Tuesday. Backstrom leads the team with 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists) in 25 games. Captain Alex Ovechkin isnt far behind with 19 points (12 goals, seven assists) in 25 games.Goaltending has been a major strength for the Capitals this season. Starter Braden Holtby has a .923 save percentage and a 2.18 goals-against average, and backup Philipp Grubauer has a .936 save percentage and a 1.80 goals against average.dddddddddddd. Each has a win over Buffalo this season.The Sabres are hoping to be much healthier along the blue line opening the season plagued by injuries. Buffalo has been without three key defensemen for a significant period of time -- Dmitry Kulikov (lower back), Josh Gorges (foot) and Zach Bogosian (knee sprain) -- and both Kulikov and Gorges have a chance of returning against the Capitals.I feel like I could (play), Gorges said, according to the teams website. I guess well reevaluate things today and tomorrow morning, talk to doctors and the medical staff and get a better idea of whether thats possible or not.The Sabres sent defenseman Erik Burgdoerfer back to the AHLs Rochester Americans on Thursday with their blue line getting healthier. Its expected that youngster Brendan Guhle will return to his junior team after being promoted on an emergency basis.Guhle, 19, has impressed in his limited time with the big club.I dont know what I totally expected given the circumstances, given who he was playing against, Sabres head coach Bylsma said, according to the teams website. You kind of look to see how anyones going to do against (Alex) Ovechkin, against (Connor) McDavids speed, and he did a pretty good job of it, a pretty remarkable job for a young kid to step in.The Sabres are coming off a 4-3 overtime win over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen had the game-winner on his first goal of the year. ' ' '