Reality
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This article was posted in another thread, but I felt this information was worthy of its own thread
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/draft/2016/04/25/jaylon-smith-nfl-draft-notre-dame-injury-recovery/83489188/
Had Smith only torn his left anterior cruciate ligament and all the structures on the lateral side of his knee, which hyperextended as he tried to brace himself from falling after an extra shove from Ohio State tackle Taylor Decker, he would be ready for training camp, said his surgeon, Dr. Dan Cooper. But blowing out the lateral side of the knee stretched Smith’s nerve enough to paralyze the muscles it controls.
While Cooper says Smith’s nerve injury wasn’t in a more severe category and he has “a very good chance of the nerve recovering,” there is no way to be certain that’ll happen or speed up the process. Nerves regrow at a rate of about 1 inch per month after a one-month lag time, Cooper said, and the injured area is roughly 6 inches above the muscle, so Smith – 3½ months out from surgery – has at least several more months of wait-and-see ahead.
“I think that it’s likely to affect him in the 2016 season and he knows that and I think most everybody knows that,” said Cooper, who’s also head team physician for the Dallas Cowboys. “So, the question really becomes, is this 20-year-old, elite-level prospect a kid that you take a little bit of a medical gamble on in the draft? And how much are you willing to gamble?”
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/draft/2016/04/25/jaylon-smith-nfl-draft-notre-dame-injury-recovery/83489188/
Had Smith only torn his left anterior cruciate ligament and all the structures on the lateral side of his knee, which hyperextended as he tried to brace himself from falling after an extra shove from Ohio State tackle Taylor Decker, he would be ready for training camp, said his surgeon, Dr. Dan Cooper. But blowing out the lateral side of the knee stretched Smith’s nerve enough to paralyze the muscles it controls.
While Cooper says Smith’s nerve injury wasn’t in a more severe category and he has “a very good chance of the nerve recovering,” there is no way to be certain that’ll happen or speed up the process. Nerves regrow at a rate of about 1 inch per month after a one-month lag time, Cooper said, and the injured area is roughly 6 inches above the muscle, so Smith – 3½ months out from surgery – has at least several more months of wait-and-see ahead.
“I think that it’s likely to affect him in the 2016 season and he knows that and I think most everybody knows that,” said Cooper, who’s also head team physician for the Dallas Cowboys. “So, the question really becomes, is this 20-year-old, elite-level prospect a kid that you take a little bit of a medical gamble on in the draft? And how much are you willing to gamble?”
