Waco, Texas ? Injured Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin is preparing to see the game from a different perspective and knows he will have to lead in a different way.

The standout sophomore isn’t expected to play again this season after he sustained “an isolated tear” in the ACL of his right knee Saturday night.

“I was a big guy on leading by example, talk when I needed to. Now all I can do is talk,” Griffin said Tuesday in his first public comments since an MRI determined the extent of his injury. “Not being able to play and stand on the sideline and watch the game and become a student of film and everything will make me a better player. I might be in the (press) box, which is fine. They don’t want to take a chance of me not looking and getting hit. We definitely don’t need that.”

The Bears (2-1) host Kent State in their final nonconference game Saturday night.

Griffin played the rest of the first half after getting hurt on the opening series in a 68-13 victory over Northwestern State last Saturday. He passed for 226 yards and three touchdowns, and the Bears scored three other TDs to lead 41-10 before Griffin watched the second half from the sideline.

“I can do that again if I can get my knee back somewhat stable,” he said. “It will never be stable without ACL (surgery). … Right now, it’s probably 80-20 (percent) that I’ll have surgery.”

An MRI was done Sunday, and the Bears said then that he was done for the season. Griffin said he heard the ligament pop when he tried to cut back to avoid a defender.

“I’ve never had a real serious injury. This will show me how much I love the game,” Griffin said. “I wasn’t expecting it to be that bad, and then finding out in real life that the whole season was gone, letting down everybody on the team and around the community. But I just have to let it soak in, let the tears go and get ready for the long road ahead.”

Backup quarterback Blake Szymanski is still recovering from a bruised shoulder that he sustained after replacing Griffin on Saturday night. The two quarterbacks behind him are freshmen Nick Florence and Brody Trahan.

Szymanski said Tuesday that he felt better and would “probably be ready to go.”

Before Briles and Griffin arrived, Szymanski started as a sophomore in 2007 and set school records with 2,844 yards passing and 22 TDs.

“It was kind of an emotional roller-coaster. It was unfortunate how that happened to Robert and then I go in there and got hurt too,” Szymanski said, describing his feelings the last few days. “It doesn’t matter who’s playing quarterback. This team is going to go on. We’re going to win football games. That’s not a doubt in my mind.”