Video: Doctor details Cowboys LB Damone Clark's spinal fusion & return timetable

[Zekeats]

This feels like deja vu

 

[J_Allen]

Spinal fusion?

I can't believe we didn't take him in the second round...

 

[noshame]

No problem taking a shot here .
Hope for the best.
From a guy with 2 herniated disc's and plays golf and lifts as a old man.

 

[Manwiththeplan]

if you don't have the time, the gist is he'll probably walk again.

Hopefully it's not a long road...

 

[baltcowboy]

Jaylon did play pretty well for a season or so, so I'm not sure how much his recovery had to do with his play. His problem seemed to be more with trying to go around blocks instead of taking them on and ending up in the wrong spot. I think the injury clearly robbed him of some mobility, but I don't think it is what messed up his career.

As much as the board rags on Jaylon, 2018 he played really well. I will say this you could see at the end of that season his gate started getting worse. It looks like he could only give us about 14 games. I still can’t believe the Joneses gave Jaylon a long term contract because you know the doctors would not be ok with his long term future.

 

[Hawkeye19]

Planning on a redshirt year for Damone. Anything we get from him in 2022 is gravy.

I am excited to see what he can bring to the D in 2023… kid seems like a great locker room leader (wearing #18 at LSU says A LOT) and productive player on the field.

Get well 18! Blessings on the recovery

 

[Stash]

I hear you, but using a late 5th round pick to gamble on LB Damone Clark was a good gamble
..in my opinion.

Using a costly 1st, 2nd or 3rd on an injured player is what hurts us.

 

[Stash]

Too much hype for him.

How so?

 

[Aven8]

There was no optimism with Jaylon Smith if you paid attention to what the doctors going on record had to say. There was a timetable for nerve regeneration and once that passed it was highly unlikely his condition would improve any further. He was still wearing a brace long after that window passed.

When he was drafted there was very little chance he'd ever regain full function of his foot.

That was just a really idiotic decision by a terrible front office.

Worst decision ever. Remember the “Jaylon watch” threads? “He has movement in his foot!….”he is starting to run”……how embarrassing. I’ve come to the realization had he never gotten injured in the bowl game he still would have sucked as a LB. some of the worst instincts I’ve ever seen at LB.

 

[Miller]

Agree with many here on a 5th gamble! It was 2nd round I’d be peeved but we had 4 5th rounders. I said on the draft weekend that those 4 should all be flyer/high upside guys. This seems like one of them. Hope he recovers and can contribute. We will see next year

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

Jaylon Smith is still not on an NFL roster after having a cup of coffee with the Packers and Giants.

But we had people claiming Jaylon was just being unfairly picked on by fans right up to the point he was cut by the Cowboys.

PM your apologies.

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

Worst decision ever. Remember the “Jaylon watch” threads? “He has movement in his foot!….”he is starting to run”……how embarrassing. I’ve come to the realization had he never gotten injured in the bowl game he still would have sucked as a LB. some of the worst instincts I’ve ever seen at LB.

I remember the “Jaylon Watch” threads during the games. He ruined watching football for me for two seasons. Like an awkward conversation at a diner that you can’t stop listening to, I could not stop watching him trying to play defense and make sense of what he was doing on the field.

 

[John813]

I just hope they don't rush him this year and make sure he is physically sound as can be.
6 months seems aggressive for the type of procedure and the training back into NFL shape only to be involved in several high collisions a game/practice.

 

[Point-of-the-Star]

I did 30 years of Neuro Trauma nursing. Y'all best keep your fingers crossed. This could heal well enough that we could cover his rookie contract and get good service out of him.

I didn't watch the whole bit by the sports doc (only half) but I'll add my thoughts. Each level of the spine has multiple joints allowing flex in your trunk (chest and abdomen areas). There are 26 vertebrae with discs between the individual vertebrae that act as shock absorbers. With Clark one of these burst so the surgeon went in and got the spacing correct then built a bridge (fusion) across the disc from good/stable vertebrae to good/stable vertebrae. Healing time is the time for the bridge to be overgrown by new bone. This bridge can be made out of the patient's own bone (generally the iliac crest) or cadaver bone. Once the bone overgrows the fusion it makes all the joints around the this fusion less flexible to totally immobile.

End result is part of the spinal column loses flex. This will inevitably put new and different stressors above and below the repair job, Something has to pick up the new dynamic forces because instead of flexible joint faces you now have a chunk of immovable bone. In spinal repair surgery we often see these new injuries local to the old injury. In the average joe this may not show up for years. In a finely tuned collision athlete, who knows, start having high speed impacts and see. Backs are fickle.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

Imo, if I were the FO, I'd probably have Clark on IR and let him recover until next year. I'm sure he will be good, but, for his sake, I'd let him come back next season fully healthy.

 

[Stash]

Jaylon Smith is still not on an NFL roster after having a cup of coffee with the Packers and Giants.

But we had people claiming Jaylon was just being unfairly picked on by fans right up to the point he was cut by the Cowboys.

PM your apologies.

I’m still waiting for that mountain of evidence that would show that he wasn’t terrible.

 

[pgreptom]

Why can't we STOP drafting players with major injury concerns!!!!!

I'm okay with a 5th round investment. I'm not okay with a 2nd round investment.

 

[Stash]

I did 30 years of Neuro Trauma nursing. Y'all best keep your fingers crossed. This could heal well enough that we could cover his rookie contract and get good service out of him.

I didn't watch the whole bit by the sports doc (only half) but I'll add my thoughts. Each level of the spine has multiple joints allowing flex in your trunk (chest and abdomen areas). There are 26 vertebrae with discs between the individual vertebrae that act as shock absorbers. With Clark one of these burst so the surgeon went in and got the spacing correct then built a bridge (fusion) across the disc from good/stable vertebrae to good/stable vertebrae. Healing time is the time for the bridge to be overgrown by new bone. This bridge can be made out of the patient's own bone (generally the iliac crest) or cadaver bone. Once the bone overgrows the fusion it makes all the joints around the this fusion less flexible to totally immobile.

End result is part of the spinal column loses flex. This will inevitably put new and different stressors above and below the repair job, Something has to pick up the new dynamic forces because instead of flexible joint faces you now have a chunk of immovable bone. In spinal repair surgery we often see these new injuries local to the old injury. In the average joe this may not show up for years. In a finely tuned collision athlete who knows, start having high speed impacts and see. Backs are fickle.

Thanks for sharing your insight. Much appreciated.

 

[Jarntt]

Too long for me to watch to get the expert opinion right now, but like many injuries nerve issues certainly have degrees. He didn't even know he was hurt, right? So I'm, hoping that's a positive sign for him coming out ahead of the normal recovery path for this type of issue. My concern is all about the fusion and the restrictions to his movement and flexibility that come with that. I don't suspect he plays a role this year so I'm thinking long term. Even if he recovers 100% and gets there quicker than expected, for a rookie to miss the entire offseason program and part of the season will obviously limit the odds of him having much of an impact on anything but STs year 1. Maybe with some luck he'll be a starting LB for us week 1 of 2023.

 

[CouchCoach]

if you don't have the time, the gist is he'll probably walk again.

Without the aid of a cane?