Felt like this needed it's own thread because it clarifies the whole knee situation and not just him going to see Andrews. Just finished listening to Tanny talk about it. If you don't think so please move it mods (thanks and sorry for the extra work) He said Sanchez has problems on BOTH knees but he refused to say what the prognosis made by team doctors was. It's not so much that he has a big injury or anything but they are just worried at the stability of the knee in his future so they are getting them double-checked. This is why they aren't only looking at the knee he hurt vs Buffalo but at the other one too. The options right now are either to just re-hab both knees or have a procedure on a knee and just re-hab the other one. He did however say they are not sure about which of the two knees they want to get the procedure on. Right now they are leaning more onto having a procedure on the LEFT knee (college injury) and rehabbing the right one (Buffalo injury). He was 100% sure they weren't gonna have a procedure on both. To me this means both knees would actually benefit from a procedure but that would make Re-hab too long / hard so they are just doing one and re-inforcing the stability of the other through specific re-hab exercises. He said if Sanchez decides to make the procedure he'll be available "well before training camp" though in a later comment he did explain that he would be missing some mini-camps and OTAs. Someone asked him if that would be bad for Sanchez since he is only a rook (and could benefit a lot from the OTAs) and he said that for sure it would hurt his development but at the end of the day they have to determine what's more important for Sanchez's career as a whole. From the way he talked about it sounded like there was a 80% chance he'd have a procedure done. It did really sound as if it was nothing serious but just something to give more stability to the knee(s)... however it sucks. I was hoping Sanchez could have a full off-season to develop a better feel with his WR corp and to get more comfortable in Schotty's schemes... hope he doesn't have to sit out too much and also I hope he won't have to do the procedure on the other knee next year. you can find Tanny's video in nyjets.com
They're going to finally fix the patella tendon in his left knee. That's the one that ripped in college when his kneecap got dislocated.
Namath could have used modern medicine. "ACL"... "PCL"... that stuff wasn't even common sports parlance until the 90's.
Seems like it per NFL.com: FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez might have surgery this offseason to stabilize the patella ligament in his left knee, which was injured during college. Sanchez, who just completed his rookie season, won't need any procedures on his right knee, which suffered a sprained posterior cruciate ligament earlier this season. He had both knees examined by team doctors this week, and also had them looked at by Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala., on Wednesday. General manager Mike Tannenbaum said Sanchez would be ready "well before training camp" if he elects to have the procedure, which isn't considered major, but could miss some early offseason workouts. "It would certainly be much sooner than later because, right now, nothing has been decided," Tannenbaum said Thursday. "So, we're going to keep the lines of communication open and make a decision pretty soon here." Sanchez dislocated the kneecap during the first week of fall practice before his junior season at Southern California. He has worn a brace on the knee since, even in the pros. Sanchez also banged up his left knee against Carolina on Nov. 29. "You don't want to have anybody miss any time, especially a young quarterback," Tannenbaum said, "but we'll balance it out with a medical procedure that may give him more stability in there and give him a chance to play without any worry about that." Sanchez's right knee, injured against Buffalo on Dec. 3 in Toronto, will heal through rehabilitation. "I think everyone's on the same page," Tannenbaum said. "It's not going to be anything major." Sanchez injured the right knee when he dived headfirst on an 8-yard run early in the third quarter against the Bills. The play came a few days after coach Rex Ryan brought in Yankees manager Joe Girardi to help teach Sanchez how to improve his sliding technique. For more on the Jets, check out the latest from our bloggers. ? Blog Blitz: Jets He missed one game when Ryan kept him home for the trip to Tampa Bay on Dec. 13, and was replaced by Kellen Clemens. Sanchez returned the following week against Atlanta wearing a brace, and had no apparent signs of injury during the last several weeks of the season. He helped lead the Jets to the AFC title game at Indianapolis, and played some of his best football during the playoff run. After throwing 20 interceptions during the regular season, Sanchez had just two in three postseason games and fell a win short of becoming the first rookie quarterback to play in the Super Bowl. The fifth overall pick last year out of USC, Sanchez finished the regular season throwing for 2,444 yards and 12 touchdowns, but had a dismal 63.0 quarterback rating. Armed with a color-coded system and numbered plays on his wrist to help him, Sanchez's ball security improved dramatically down the stretch. He finished the playoffs going 41 of 68 for 539 yards with four touchdowns and a 92.7 rating. Sanchez also joined Baltimore's Joe Flacco as the only rookie quarterbacks to win two playoff games.
Minor setback missing some mini-camps, he can make that up pretty quickly. Short term or Long term this is the right move. If they take a chance and let it go, he could blow it out. Missing several weeks of mini camps wont set him near as far back as missing 6-8 months of rehab would. Not to mention the loss to our team and the length of his career.
I have had surgery on both patella tendons (soccer injuries), with both surgeries intended to prevent catastrophic rupture of the tendon in the future. The first knee was done 10 years ago, and the result was terrific. I was playing soccer about 3 - 4 months after surgery and the knee today is the best it has ever been. It did take 9 months to a year to get back to 100%, but I did not have daily therapy with the best professionals available like Sanchez will have. My other knee was done in late November, and I am on target to be playing again in March. If Sanchez's surgery is the same procedure, I am not overly concerned long term about this being a chronic problem (like Namath), and agree that doing the surgery is way better than risking a potential rupture (which is a brutal injury and recovery).
Getting it fixed now is incredibly smart. He'll miss some off-season workouts, but he'll be back before mini-camp starts.
