The Injury gods have gone quarterback hunting with the NFL season just around the corner. Vikings announced last week that quarterback Teddy Bridgewater suffered a dislocated knee and a torn ACL during practice. Bridgewater is the second starting quarterback to go down following Cowboys’ Tony Romo who suffered a fractured vertebrae in Dallas’ third preseason game. The Vikings’ and Cowboys’ offense will take a massive hit and many are already counting them out as postseason contenders. Let’s take a closer look at the injuries.
Bridgewater’s devastating knee injury has ruled him out for the entire upcoming season as he completely tore his anterior collateral ligament (ACL) and dislocation of the tibia and femur, the shin and the thigh bone (Goessling, 2016). Some of his Vikings teammates described it as the most gruesome injury they had witnessed in their careers. In short, one misstep completely destroyed his knee; the two large bones that come together at the knee joint dislocated, along with a tear or a strain to multiple cruciate ligaments that stabilize the knee. Surprisingly, Bridgewater’s injury occurred on a non-contact drill, when he stepped back awkwardly after a snap. An ambulance was quick to arrive at the scene, and team trainers ruled out any nerve or arterial damage (Goessling, 2016). Bridgewater is expected to make a full recovery, as he just 23 years old; nonetheless, it will be a long road back, as he is set to undergo surgery and months of rehabilitation.
To read up on an in-depth article on another sports star’s knee injury click here.
The Cowboys released Romo’s injury details as a compression fracture to the first lumbar vertebrae. The spine is numbered and separated into three main regions: cervical, thoracic, and lumbar. The lumbar spine is the lowest region in the vertebral column and is also the biggest, allowing for more weight load. Romo’s injury occurred as he was attempting a slide with the ball. Aprils, the Seahawk’s defensive end wrapped his arm around Romo’s right shoulder, attempting to knock the ball out of his hand (Bell, 2016). Romo landed in a seated position with his legs stretched, and it was the downward pressure applied by Aprils, in conjunction with gravity and the upward force that the ground inflicted into his spine when Romo landed, that caused the compression to occur in the spine (Bell, 2016). The combining forces were too much for Romo’s spine to accommodate, resulting in a compression fracture to his first lumbar vertebrae.
According to Dr. Watkins of Marina Spine Centre in California, a compression fracture is infrequent in young athletes. Compression fractures tend to be frequent in older adults due to weakening of the bones (Bell, 2016). In Romo’s case, the fracture occurred due to a sheer unnatural force that was applied to his body while sliding. The first step towards rehabilitation is minimizing pain and restricting spinal movements, which can be achieved with a back brace or a engineered corset (Bell, 2016). The brace will not completely restrict his spinal movement, but act as a stabilizer, preventing the flexion movement that initiates the compression in his spine, as this movement can cause pain and may aggravate the fracture (Bell, 2016). Romo’s fracture is not a substantial one, which means the healing process is non-surgical. However, there is no fixed timetable for his return yet, as spinal fractures vary considerably in recovery times. Current reports from the Cowboys staff suggest he may be out for as much as 10 weeks (Bell, 2016). Star wide receiver Dez Bryant will take a huge hit in his fantasy value, as well as tight end Jason Witten.
References:
Bell, Stephania. (2016). Why this Tony Romo injury Is more serious than past issues. ESPN. Retrieved from: http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/17414579/nfl-tony-romo-dallas-cowboys-back-injury-why-serious-treatment-plan-long-term-effects
Goessling, Ben. (2016). Vikings QB Teddy Bridgewater dislocates knee, tears ACL in drill. ESPN. Retrieved from: http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/17424174/teddy-bridgewater-suffers-serious-knee-injury-minnesota-vikings-practice
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