Among the many things the NFL could do to improve its product? Streamline the rule book.

The league worries about a lot of things that most normal folks don’t care about, and some things we would never even think about. And that’s how we ended up with an NFL investigation into Cleveland Browns quarterback Robert Griffin III throwing some passes well before Thursday night’s game.

Griffin is on injured reserve. As such, he’s not allowed to be on the field doing anything within 60 minutes of kickoff. Did you know that rule? If you did, you know way too much about the NFL rule book.

Griffin was out throwing to Jordan Payton, according to Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, which is news because Griffin is eligible to come off IR, if the Browns designate him to return. Eight weeks have passed since he fractured his left shoulder. The time-frame of Griffin’s 20 passes on Thursday night seems pretty unimportant though.

But according to Browns coach Hue Jackson, the NFL was investigating to see when Griffin was throwing. Because of the 60-minute rule. Oh boy.

That’s why Cabot was tweeting out a picture of Griffin meeting with servicemen at 7:14 p.m. on Thursday night, more than an hour before kickoff, as proof his 20 throws were within the rules.

So yeah, this is what we’re worried about on a Friday afternoon. Even though it seems like Griffin and the Browns will avoid punishment, maybe the NFL needs to eliminate some of the many rules it has.

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