Twitter: Leighton Vander Esch underwent surgery on his neck

Hawkeye19 said:

Where did it say they fused his neck? It wasn’t in the article on the OP. Not saying it didn’t happen— just haven’t seen where the procedure was described. Thanks

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I think I recall Mickey on Talkin' Cowboys stating they were going to do fusion.

Verdict said:

How is a fusion minimally invasive?

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It's really not. lol

Beast_from_East said:

It was actually well known before the draft that he had a neck issue, but the Cowboys decided to roll the dice anyways just like with Jaylon.

That is why he lasted to pick 19, if totally healthy with no neck issues he would have been a top 5 pick.

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He started 1 full year at a small school. You're out of your mind if you think he could have been a Top 5 pick.

Boise has never produced a Top 10 draft pick and they've had a number of players with much better college careers than LVE. Ryan Clady is as high as any BSU player has ever gone at #12.

I like the guy, but come on. First LB wasn't taken until #8, and the second was taken at #16. LVE didn't have the accolades to force his way into the Top 5 regardless of injury.

stasheroo said:

I think they were holding out hope that he might be able to play when they still had that fantasy about 'making the playoffs'.

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That fantasy was gone after the Eagles game. He could have been recovering for weeks now

I hope all went well

TheSport78 said:

It's really not. lol

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I had a double disc fusion 5 years ago, done at an outpatient surgical center, procedure was over in 3 hours and I was released to go home after 3 hours in recovery (mostly because I was put under). I have minimal loss of motion. I have no idea about the wisdom of playing LB in the NFL but I'm not sure where you are getting your other info from.

stasheroo said:

I think they were holding out hope that he might be able to play when they still had that fantasy about 'making the playoffs'.

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Very likely
Also sometimes they try alternatives to surgery first before going that route