ASHBURN, Va. -- Robert Griffin III had plenty of success in college, so the Washington Redskins rookie quarterback expects the trend to continue when he makes his NFL debut in Thursdays preseason opener at Buffalo. "Im not gonna make it too big to where I cant seize it, so go out, have fun and do what coach asks me to do," Griffin said Monday. "I think Ill be more anxious than nervous. When youre anxious you cant wait to go succeed. You just gotta go out and play the game. Itll be an eye-opening experience and I look forward to it." The expectations are high for Griffin, for whom the Redskins (No. 25 in the AP Pro32) traded three first-round picks and a second-rounder to St. Louis to move up four spots and draft second overall in April. Coach Mike Shanahan quickly anointed the 22-year-old Heisman Trophy winner from Baylor the starter and the face of the franchise, one that started 21 quarterbacks the past 19 seasons while only reaching the playoffs three times. "I dont ever shy away from expectations or people trying to put pressure on me to be great," Griffin said. Shanahan likes that confidence in his rookie quarterback. "You want people to believe in themselves," said Shanahan, who won two Super Bowls in Denver with Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway and another as San Franciscos offensive co-ordinator with Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young. "You want them to have that air of arrogance that they are the best at what they do. Usually the great ones do have that confidence level." Similar to Griffin, Washington backup quarterback Rex Grossman was a first-round pick, but he was under a lot less pressure in his rookie summer of 2003 as Chicagos third-stringer. "Its a different mindset for Robert," Grossman said. "Hes been through a lot more to this point than I had been when I was a rookie. He has a ton of reps. I wasnt getting many reps. I was in awe of where I was and I was very excited about it. Hes very confident. "I think hes going to have some nerves, but I think he feels pretty good about whats going to happen. Its not just another game. Youre always going to remember your first preseason game just like youll remember your first start, every single play, so enjoy it." Grossman and the Bears enjoyed a 20-18 victory over Indianapolis in his preseason debut. However, Heath Shuler, the third overall choice in 1994 and the only quarterback besides Griffin whom the Redskins have chosen in the top 10 in decades, signed just four days before his preseason opener at Buffalo and completed just four of 10 passes with an interception in a 13-11 defeat. "We had more of a West Coast offence in college and now I was running the seven-step drop," said Shuler, now a Democratic Congressman from North Carolina. "It would be like putting Rex in the wishbone in terms of how big a change it was for me, but I never got that nervous before games so I wasnt that nervous for that game either. Robert will physically be able to do the things that hes always done, but it needs to become a reaction instead of him thinking, If I dont get my foot in the exact right place, when they watch film, theyre gonna be all over me. Just throw the ball from point A to point B." Notes: Griffins task in Buffalo might have become more complicated when right guard Chris Chester suffered what was called a mild left ankle sprain during Mondays practice. Washington is already minus left guard Kory Lichtensteiger, who had his left knee scoped a week ago, and right tackle Jammal Brown, whos on the physically unable to perform list with a chronically ailing left hip. Fullback Darrel Young (hamstring) and receiver Lance Lewis (groin) remain sidelined. . Mark Rypien, who earned MVP honours in quarterbacking the Redskins to their most recent Super Bowl victory, attended Mondays walk-through. Wholesale Jerseys Cheap . -- The Oakland Athletics have called up left-hander Sean Doolittle from Triple-A Sacramento to cap a rapid rise less than a year after making a switch to pitcher. Wholesale Jerseys From China . Yunel Escobar had a big day against New York on Wednesday, going 4-for-5 with three doubles, two runs scored, a home run and five RBI in Torontos 8-5 win. Edwin Encarnacion, Adam Lind and Jeff Mathis each drove in a run to help the Jays take two out of three matchups with the Yankees following a seven-game skid. http://herownblog.com/wholes... . Terry, who was shown a red card during the second leg of the Champions League semifinal against Barcelona in April after striking Alexis Sanchez in the back with his knee, served the first match of his ban during the Champions League final against Bayern Munich. [url=http://herownblog.com/wholesale-jerseys-cheap/]Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping .Y. -- Buffalo Bills safety Jairus Byrd has a swollen right foot, but is not expected to miss any playing time. Wholesale Jerseys China . The Rangers did it against the pesky eighth-seeded Ottawa Senators in the first round, giving them confidence they can pull it off again against the formidable New Jersey Devils and reach the Stanley Cup final for the first time in 18 years.MISSISSAUGA, Ont. -- Eric Tillman might be having second thoughts, but Ricky Ray isnt anymore. The veteran quarterback says hes settled nicely into his new life with the Toronto Argonauts, seven months after Tillmans stunning decision to send Ray east after nine seasons in Edmonton. Earlier this week, the Eskimos general manager told an Edmonton radio station if he had it all over to do again he probably wouldnt make the trade. That sentiment is of little solace to Ray. "Yeah, Ive been over that for a while.," Ray said with a chuckle following practice Thursday. "You know, its football. "I was lucky to play in one place for so long. The trade happened and, yeah, I was a little shocked and upset in the beginning but throughout the off-season I was definitely really excited to come here and work with (Argos rookie head coach) Scott Milanovich. The trade was done and Im happy to be here in Toronto. This is a great spot for me." Tillman has come under heavy criticism in Alberta since trading Ray -- one of the most accurate and purest passers in CFL history -- in December for journeyman quarterback Steven Jyles, kicker Grant Shaw and the No. 2 selection in the 2012 CFL draft. Not only did Ray lead Edmonton to a pair of Grey Cup titles during his time there, he was also a huge fan favourite. Whats more, at age 32 Ray is still in his prime and should have many years of solid production left considering Montreals Anthony Calvillo -- another outstanding pure passer -- is still going strong at age 39. Ray led Edmonton to an 11-5 record and first-place with B.C. and Calgary in the West Division in 2011. He finished the season third overall in passing with 4,594 yards -- the sixth time in nine seasons he has surpassed the 4,500-yard plateau -- while completing 65.2 per cent of his passes. Ray also threw 24 touchdown passes against just 11 interceptions. Jyles and the Eskimos beat Ray and the Argos 19-15 at Commonwealth Stadium in the season opener for both teams. Ray finished 29-of-39 passing in his return to Edmonton for 298 yards and a TD while Jyles finished 21-of-36 for 236 yardds and an interception.dddddddddddd. The real star of the game was Shaw, who hit all four field goals he attempted while Argos veteran Noel Prefontaine missed two of the three he tried. It certainly was a different story last weekend as Ray threw for 407 yards and two TDs while leading Toronto to a thrilling 39-36 home victory over Calgary on Saturday. The following night, Jyles was a dismal 10-of-19 passing for 91 yards and Edmontons offence mustered just 137 net yards in a 17-1 road loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Moments later in Regina, Tillman stepped forward to shoulder the blame for the embarrassing defeat. Then on Tuesday he took to the airwaves to publicly second-guess his decision to trade Ray. "Honestly, I would probably not," Tillman said. "I would have listened to my wife, who begged me not to make the trade because she talked about the fact that we had just gone 11-7 (last year), that we could actually have an off-season where I might be semi-popular in Edmonton for a change, and to stay status quo." Ray joined a Toronto team that finished last in the East Division last year with a 6-12 record. The six-foot-two, 205-pound quarterback was slow to adjust to Milanovichs offence during training camp -- Ray was 8-of-15 passing for 99 yards and two interceptions in two exhibition games -- but is currently the CFLs passing leader with 705 yards through two games. "I think the offence is better designed to handle my strengths so Im really excited to play in this offence," Ray said. "This opportunity is just a great opportunity for me." Ray said returning to Edmonton early in the season helped him achieve closure with the trade and the fact he was no longer an Eskimo. "For sure, that was a good game to kind of get out of the way," Ray said. "I think the weirdest part of that game was just knowing so many guys on the other team. "Usually you know a guy or two and thats about it but I pretty much knew the whole team and it was kind of weird watching them. But now we can just get back to playing football." ' ' '