NFL Players and Broken Ankles

SackMaster

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You can't compare "broken ankle" injuries without knowing the facts. Can be anything from e.g. Vea to e.g. Didier Pironi (1980s motor racing). Vea got back the same season, Pironi was still in agony 2 years later.
Well I would not compare an injury in the 2020's to one in the 1980's. Technology has improved significantly since then.

I remember where ACL or MCL tears were career enders. Now players routinely come back the next year.

So while yes, Vea's ankle injury was not as severe as Dak's, Dak will get close to 3x the time to recover before having to play in a game like situation than Vea did. And Hurns' injury, which required emergency surgery for the soft tissue damage he suffered was able to come back in 3 months less time than Dak has.

Like another poster pointed out, all we can do is wait. The truth WILL come out.
:thumbup:
 

Risen Star

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While in the Marines I broke my ankle and foot at the same time. I kept on humping until the swelling in my boot became too much to bear. 4 weeks later I was back at it an the Doc said it would be better than ever.

Wow.
 

john van brocklin

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WARNING: Videos used are of the ankle break injuries of NFL players that some may find as graphic. Watch at your own risk.

With so much misinformation out there about broken ankles, specifically that a player may never play again or that ankle breaks are "devastating injuries", I wanted give some facts instead of attempting to fear monger with false information.


Obviously, there is Dak's broken ankle on October 11, 2020


While I have no specific information on Dak's injury recovery, what I can say is that these types of injuries are not career enders, or even production reducers, like so many seem to report.

Here are a few cases that support my above assessment.


Case #1: Vita Vea broken ankle on October 8, 2020


Vita broke his ankle during the Thursday night game of the SAME WEEK that Dak broke his.

Yet despite playing at ~100+ lbs more than Dak, and at a position that places more pressure on their legs than QBs, he was able to play in the NFCCG (Jan 24, 2021) and SB (Feb 7, 2021) playing 40+% of the snaps in both games.

Sure, he was not playing at as high of a snap count as before the injury, but he came back just 15 weeks after the injury and was a big part of the defense that shutdown both Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes in the playoffs. And I don't know of anyone who is saying Vita will not be 100% back after the offseason (maybe I missed it, but it sure isn't national news).

By the time Dak would need to participate in any activities, he would have had almost twice the recovery time (28 weeks) when offseason workout programs can begin on April 19.

So time wise, Dak's injury is not an issue.


Case 2: Allen Hurns broken ankle on January 5, 2019


In the Cowboys 2019 wild card playoff game against Seattle, Hurns broke his ankle. While he never played another snap in Big D, he did sign with the Miami Dolphins during the offseason and his production in 2019 was on par with his production in the two previous years in Jacksonville before he signed with the Cowboys for the 2018 season.

While some will argue that his 2019 production was not impressive, it was much better than what he did with his only year as a Cowboy, and was in line with anything he done in the NFL after his first two years in the league. So basically, he was what he was, before and after the injury.

Then there is also the time frame. Allen broke his ankle on Jan 5th (vs early October) and yet still played in the Dolphins season opener on Sept 8, 2019. Hurns even started the Week 3 game vs Dallas.

Here, with even less time to recover than Dak, Hurns was able to recover and still produce at the pre-injury Hurns level.


Case 3: Odell Beckham Jr broken ankle on October 8, 2017


Here we have an injury that happened almost identical to the Dak injury as far as when during the season it happened. In this case, OBJ was in the starting lineup in Game 1 of the 2018 season.

Not only did OBJ not miss the first game, he was on a likely career best year in 2018 before a Quad Bruise killed the last 4 games of his 2018 season. It would be one thing if the late season Quad injury was related to the ankle injury, but it was a leg whip (tripping) play by Kamu Granger-Hill that Kamu was ultimately fined for.

Again, the time frame is good and production was good (and arguably on a pace for better than) when compared to pre-injury OBJ.


Conclusion
Now what does this all mean? I have no idea if Dak will recover for the broken ankle because I don't have any of Dak's specific injury data.

But generally speaking, a broken ankle is not a "devastating injury" despite it being one of the most gruesome ones to watch. Even with players that weigh much more than Dak and/or play positions that are much harder on the leg/ankles than QBs (DT constant collisions in compact areas with other 300+lbs people / WR cuts and constant running), recovering from a broken ankle is not particularly hard to do.

Therefore unless there is something SPECIFICALLY wrong with Dak's recovery, I would suggest anyone reading any articles / opinions / speculation that Dak will never play again and/or will not be ready to start the season, to think critically about the data provided and see if it adds up.

So IMO, based off all the information that we do know, and even with the "cleanup" second surgery, I would be willing to bet that Dak will be 100% ready to go come April / May regardless of what team he is playing for.

And I hope that instead of blindly accepting someone else's conclusion as facts, to include this tread, you spend a little time to investigate and analyze the data yourself.

But that is me.
:starspin:

Appreciate the effort and time you put into your post.
 

Future

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Anyone who believes that Dak's injury is career threatening simply wants that to be true, for one reason or another.
 

gjkoeppen

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The type of fracture also matters as does shattering.






There are two different types of broken bones. The fracture which is also often called a broken bone but is a crack in the bone and a compound fracture where the bone is completely broken often protruding though the skin. Prescott has a compound fracture. When I was 14 I had a compound fractured in my arm the radius bone and was in a cast for 6 weeks and then 4 weeks later it was like it was never broken. At that time I could do everything I did before the break. I know my arm is not the same as Prescott's ankle, but it shows that those that have speculated that there's a 20% chance Prescott will never play again said that STRICTLY as click bait.
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dogberry

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My wife just expressed a strong opinion.

I called her a hater.

Thank yawl for enriching my vocabulary.
 

TwoCentPlain

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There are two different types of broken bones. The fracture which is also often called a broken bone but is a crack in the bone and a compound fracture where the bone is completely broken often protruding though the skin. Prescott has a compound fracture. When I was 14 I had a compound fractured in my arm the radius bone and was in a cast for 6 weeks and then 4 weeks later it was like it was never broken. At that time I could do everything I did before the break. I know my arm is not the same as Prescott's ankle, but it shows that those that have speculated that there's a 20% chance Prescott will never play again said that STRICTLY as click bait.
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It is not the bone it is the ligaments. Dak had a compound fracture of the bone above the ankle and a dislocated ankle. The dislocation of the ankle may have been so severe that the ligaments tore. We do not know. From reports we were told the second surgery was on the ligaments, specifically the deltoid ligament. Read up on that ligament and surgery.
 

robertfchew

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Last time I seen this many medical experts was when we were discussing nerve regeneration on a wht we thought was going to be a superstar linebacker,

to be fair he was good for one year. I rooted for that guy but he's just not good
 

robertfchew

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There are two different types of broken bones. The fracture which is also often called a broken bone but is a crack in the bone and a compound fracture where the bone is completely broken often protruding though the skin. Prescott has a compound fracture. When I was 14 I had a compound fractured in my arm the radius bone and was in a cast for 6 weeks and then 4 weeks later it was like it was never broken. At that time I could do everything I did before the break. I know my arm is not the same as Prescott's ankle, but it shows that those that have speculated that there's a 20% chance Prescott will never play again said that STRICTLY as click bait.
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fracture and break are the same thing. Compound is when it comes thru the skin so you're partially correct.
 

gjkoeppen

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It is not the bone it is the ligaments. Dak had a compound fracture of the bone above the ankle and a dislocated ankle. The dislocation of the ankle may have been so severe that the ligaments tore. We do not know. From reports we were told the second surgery was on the ligaments, specifically the deltoid ligament. Read up on that ligament and surgery.



We have all read about all the speculation that has been spread about by sportswriters and even by some here who have a relative who is a doctor but NONE OF THEM have ever examined Prescott nor were they there during either surgeries to know EXACTLY what was done. Whenever I hear doctors explain anything on TV on some injury that they themselves did not do the surgery they end it by saying something like without examining the patient or being there for the surgery nobody can say with all certainty what will happen. One time when I had surgery on my left ACL during the surgery the surgeon noticed a very tiny calcium buildup on my MCL where it attached to the bone and he told me when I woke up in recovery that he cleaned that up too. Now technically he did some surgery on my MCL too but it by no means had any affect on rehabing from the ACL surgery. Without any of the speculators on Prescott's surgery being there when the surgeon did the 2nd surgery on Prescott all they are doing is guessing and could be based on what the actual surgeon that did the surgery and has said is completely wrong.
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gjkoeppen

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fracture and break are the same thing. Compound is when it comes thru the skin so you're partially correct.




Actually what I said is correct because a compound fracture does not have to come through the skin to be a compound fracture. A compound fracture is where there is something more than just a crack or fracture and needs to be set. A fracture or just a crack isn't set, it just has a cast to immobilize the fractured bone to let it heal. By the way if you actually read what I said I did say that a fracture is often called a broken bone ( or as you say a break) but is really only a crack in the bone which is 1,000% true.
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TwoCentPlain

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We have all read about all the speculation that has been spread about by sportswriters and even by some here who have a relative who is a doctor but NONE OF THEM have ever examined Prescott nor were they there during either surgeries to know EXACTLY what was done. Whenever I hear doctors explain anything on TV on some injury that they themselves did not do the surgery they end it by saying something like without examining the patient or being there for the surgery nobody can say with all certainty what will happen. One time when I had surgery on my left ACL during the surgery the surgeon noticed a very tiny calcium buildup on my MCL where it attached to the bone and he told me when I woke up in recovery that he cleaned that up too. Now technically he did some surgery on my MCL too but it by no means had any affect on rehabbing from the ACL surgery. Without any of the speculators on Prescott's surgery being there when the surgeon did the 2nd surgery on Prescott all they are doing is guessing and could be based on what the actual surgeon that did the surgery and has said is completely wrong.
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Point is no team is giving a $175-200M contract to a player who cannot pass a physical. Speculate all you want on whether the second surgery on the deltoid ligament was just a clean up or a graft. Bottom line - no team is offering squat until Dak can pass a physical which includes running, cutting, and throwing. And the team will want its own medical doctors to independently examine and take MRIs, x-rays, etc. Common sense.

Now, when do you think Dak will pass a physical? Before FA begins? Before the draft? Before camp begins? Before the season begins? After FA and the draft is too late to land the huge contract in my opinion.

It will all come down to Jerry and loyalty and Jerry is only competing with himself. Is it team first or is it Dak first? We will find out.
 

Section446

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Dak will recover just fine and go on to continue to play at his pre-imjury average level for another team. The injury was a blessing in disguise for the team, he's not the guy and it makes it a lot easier not to pay him.
 

robertfchew

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Actually what I said is correct because a compound fracture does not have to come through the skin to be a compound fracture. A compound fracture is where there is something more than just a crack or fracture and needs to be set. A fracture or just a crack isn't set, it just has a cast to immobilize the fractured bone to let it heal. By the way if you actually read what I said I did say that a fracture is often called a broken bone ( or as you say a break) but is really only a crack in the bone which is 1,000% true.
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I think you're confusing compound with comminuted but ok doctor.
 
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