Update: Jimmy Graham out for year; patella tendon

[knownone]

I'd say that's a pretty amazing recovery.

Things are different from when I tore mine, but the Navy was considered very aggressive with their rehab at the time, I was doing physical therapy the day after surgery. Even then, they told me no matter how good I felt, I wasn't allowed to run until the 6 month mark, as the graft is considered too soft and can stretch again with too much lateral pressure. Once it's loose, you might as well have not had the surgery.

When did you have your surgery? In the context of professional sports 4 months would be amazing, for an average dude like me who doesn't need to make cuts or run on a dime, it's not really all that spectacular. It sounds like you may have done more damage than I did though, my surgeon told me around the 4 month mark that my knee was stable and the major hurdle going forward was going to be mental.
For contrast, I could barely walk 4 months after breaking my tibia.

 

[Cyrus12]

losing Graham simply sucks...just seemed like it was falling all into place today. I know Willssson can make a few catches but he is nowhere as automatic...especially in the red zone.

 

[Rob12]

Unbelievable that RW is catching blame here. He's not under throwing the ball on purpose. He had an amazing day and a bad, unfortunate play happened. That's football.

 

[TheRealDTM]

I'd say that's probably grahams last snap as a seahawk. We need to start holding onto our 1st round picks.

 

[Anthony!]

That injury is all on Russell. Terrible throw.

Why half his passes to Jimmy are below the knees is a mystery. A stupid, stupid mystery.

Official stupidest post ever

 

[Anthony!]

i agree

brees would have placed the ball where it needed to be

hate this

I think pointing the finger at someone else for an injury that is completely beyond anyone's control is pretty heinous, frankly.

Poster obviously doesn't think it was beyond anyone's control. Not a doctor myself, but it seems like the low throw contributed to putting extra stress on the tendon. I love Wilson, but if he did contribute then that emphasizes the need for him to focus on improving that part of his game.

Not saying that Wilson shouldn't be aware that underthrowing a ball increases the risk of injury. Not saying the throw can't be criticized. Not saying Russell shouldn't have to improve, or that fans can't point out that a better throw lessens the risk of an awkward landing.

Just saying that a lot has to go wrong to pop a patellar tendon on a landing, and boiling it down to 'it's Russell's fault' is unnecessarily harsh and blamey. QBs miss throws all the time and receivers don't get hurt.

Maybe I'm the only one the comment bothers, and that's cool, too. None of the posters making the comments are bad posters who write inflammatory things a lot, so I'm not going to go out of my way to continue fighting it. We're all on the same side here in the end.

NO it bothers a lot of us, this is taking Wilson hat to a all new level and shows serious stupidity, but you have to consider the source and the person who agreed

 

[Anthony!]

Maybe I'm the only one the comment bothers, and that's cool, too. None of the posters making the comments are bad posters who write inflammatory things a lot, so I'm not going to go out of my way to continue fighting it. We're all on the same side here in the end.

I appreciate that. I'm definitely not trying to fight anyone. And as you note, I have not been vocally critical of Russell or usually inflammatory.

But game after game I've been wondering why the heck he consistently throws behind and below Jimmy. The guy is huge. The errant passes seemed like "adjustment time" and Russell would eventually start to dial it in once he got used to Graham's routes and style. Earlier in the game Russell did hit him in stride.

But this poor throw happened to result in an extremely awkward position and season-ending injury.

A pinpoint pass is a TD. Lots of QBs could make it. That's all I'm saying.

ukeface: Nice try to recover to late, the post was stupid and should never have been made.

 

[Anthony!]

I guess I look at it differently than those who get up in arms saying that the throw put Graham in position to get injured.

No one is saying Russell meant to under throw him and cause him to get injured.. just that if the throw were more accurate or overthrown, he's probably not injured.

But anyway - really hope for the best for Jimmy. That is a really nasty injury.

really you can guarantee that? I did not think so.

 

[Anthony!]

Gronk just took a hit to his knee and had to get carted off. Could you imagine the NFL losing it's top two TE's in the same day?

Yeah but no one is blaming Brady fore it, I mean if the throws the ball differently maybe it does not happen.

 

[Hasselbeck]

I guess I look at it differently than those who get up in arms saying that the throw put Graham in position to get injured.

No one is saying Russell meant to under throw him and cause him to get injured.. just that if the throw were more accurate or overthrown, he's probably not injured.

But anyway - really hope for the best for Jimmy. That is a really nasty injury.

really you can guarantee that? I did not think so.

Considering Russell under-throwing the ball made Graham twist back in an awkward manner to make a play at the ball and prevent a pick.. yeah.. I can guarantee if the ball is thrown on target or over his head that he doesn't rip his patellar tendon.

And no.. it wasn't intentional.. it was a missed throw that sadly was more costly than an incompletion. That's all anyone is saying with this.

 

[Anthony!]

I guess I look at it differently than those who get up in arms saying that the throw put Graham in position to get injured.

No one is saying Russell meant to under throw him and cause him to get injured.. just that if the throw were more accurate or overthrown, he's probably not injured.

But anyway - really hope for the best for Jimmy. That is a really nasty injury.

really you can guarantee that? I did not think so.

Considering Russell under-throwing the ball made Graham twist back in an awkward manner to make a play at the ball and prevent a pick.. yeah.. I can guarantee if the ball is thrown on target or over his head that he doesn't rip his patellar tendon.

And no.. it wasn't intentional.. it was a missed throw that sadly was more costly than an incompletion. That's all anyone is saying with this.

Sorry the original poster was not saying that at all, he was blaming Wilson for Graham getting hurt, this is Football people get hurt all the time, not every throw is perfect he got hurt but to blame it on someone is pathetic. FYI YOU cannot guarantee anything, because you do not know. I never said it was a great thrown ball, but I have seen others make plays on balls like that and succeed and fail but still no get hurt. So again to blame Wilson for Graham getting hurt is stupid and again the way it was fist posted was far form what you are saying let me help you "
HawkAroundTheClock wrote:
That injury is all on Russell. Terrible throw.

Why half his passes to Jimmy are below the knees is a mystery. A stupid, stupid mystery."


Yeah that sure sounds like what your saying. NOT IT was a direct attempt to trash Wilson despite him playing a great game and now you and a few others want to blame him for Graham getting hurt. Sorry stupid. For all you know Graham was supposed to box out 2 yards into the End zone but ran the wrong route. So lets stop guessing and most importantly blaming someone for another getting hurt. Its football stuff happens

 

[Rob12]

It's crazy to say but I think that we're probably the only fan base in the NFL that would somehow find a way to blame our QB for an injury like that. I haven't heard one Patriots fan blame Tom Brady for getting Rob Gronkowski hurt.

There's some deep rooted disdain for Russell here from a select number of posters, and I don't get it. To even insinuate that he's somehow at fault is reactionary BS. What is the trend of laying blame wherever one can? In the Gameday Forum it was that the 12's were no longer loud enough. Every week it's something different.

The thing is, football is a violent game and every week many players get hurt. Most knee injuries are without contact. But somehow, some are blaming our franchise QB.

I'm not a RW apologist. I'm all for critiquing his play. But this idea that he constantly under throws or throws behind Graham is laughable. Look at his catch/target rate. It's high. Even the best QB's in the game miss throws consistently.

Come on. All this is is Seahawks fans trying to outsmart themselves and seeing something that isn't there. It's unfortunate, and it really sucks, but it is not RW's fault.

 

[Uncle Si]

Exactly....how many highlight reel catches do we see every Sunday from less than perfect throws? Players twist and turn on every play.

An accident. A sad one

 

[Anthony!]

It's crazy to say but I think that we're probably the only fan base in the NFL that would somehow find a way to blame our QB for an injury like that. I haven't heard one Patriots fan blame Tom Brady for getting Rob Gronkowski hurt.

There's some deep rooted disdain for Russell here from a select number of posters, and I don't get it. To even insinuate that he's somehow at fault is reactionary BS. What is the trend of laying blame wherever one can? In the Gameday Forum it was that the 12's were no longer loud enough. Every week it's something different.

The thing is, football is a violent game and every week many players get hurt. Most knee injuries are without contact. But somehow, some are blaming our franchise QB.

I'm not a RW apologist. I'm all for critiquing his play. But this idea that he constantly under throws or throws behind Graham is laughable. Look at his catch/target rate. It's high. Even the best QB's in the game miss throws consistently.

Come on. All this is is Seahawks fans trying to outsmart themselves and seeing something that isn't there. It's unfortunate, and it really sucks, but it is not RW's fault.

BING BING BING we have a winner great post spot on

 

[Dolomight12]

Just posting to say I was here to witness this thread... Wowzers!

 

[Dolomight12]

Why I didn't expect this is beyond me at this hour. I'm at a loss for words.

 

[Rob12]

Back to Jimmy Graham... In the perspective of the NFL, this is a tragedy.

I think his time with the Seahawks could be over. The Seahawks do not owe Graham any guaranteed money after this season. He still has guaranteed money in his contract, but New Orleans is on the hook for that. For the Seahawks, a team that will be up against the cap a bit, it might not make sense to pay a recovering Graham next season. This is a brutal injury, and if he were to make it back to full strength, he would be the first. It wrecked Ryan Williams' career. He was a promising back for the Cardinals who had the same injury during his rookie year, and is now on the Cowboys' Practice Squad. He said the injury is devastating, and he wouldn't wish it on his worst enemy. Victor Cruz is another one that will likely never be the same player, but rather a shell of his former self.

It's devastating. Absolutely devastating. And quite frankly, it puts his career in serious jeopardy. I hate saying this, and I hate being a downer, but I think he's very likely done as a member of the Seattle Seahawks. I hope I am wrong and that he can set a new precedent with this type of injury. I really do.

This has been an insanely tough season. It is heart breaking to me that we never got to see the RW/Beast/JG trio at full strength. And just like that, it appears it was never to be.

Get well, Jimmy.

 

[Bob Loblaw]

Feel bad for JG. His is a particular injury almost no football player comes back from. The patellar is devastating.

 

[byau]

Just to add to all the over information, my wife watched the game with us. She's a director of physical therapy and used to work at USC where almost all her patients were football players.

The look on her face after the replay was of concern. I said "looks like he wrenched his ankle pretty badly" and she said "no, looks like he tore something in his knee." This was before the patella tendon injury was announced

I asked her about it later, she said it is a long rehab, and even with the best care in the world it could be 9 months or longer for a full recovery (spot on, later we found out 6 to 9 months right?) and she also said even with a full recovery, he won't be able to play the same.

Hmph. Take that as you will

My thoughts now:

I'm thinking well he's not a running back who cuts a lot, he mostly runs forward, and if everything heels if he still has his really good hands, jumping ability, boxing out ability, still could be one of the best TEs in the league. Esp. since he was getting some chemistry with Russell and was learning to block. You got to love this kid's mindset and determination

And let's not forget the Patriots took their time with Gronk's recovery, I think he sat out a whole year and then came back like crazy the next season (I'm sure some of us may want to forget that)

Hoping for the best. And glad it wasn't worse.

 

[bigskydoc]

IMHO, depending on the severity of the tear, this was about as devastating an injury as I can imagine short of a complete blowout of the knee or a Theisman type injury.

Unlike the typical ligamentous injuries that we see (ACL,MCL), the patellar tendon (technically ligament, but practically tendon) is not just a stabilizing structure of the knee. It actually transmits the forces from the powerful quad muscles in the thigh to the tibia (lower leg).

Every single movement of leg extension puts tension on that ligament. Run, jump, cut, push all transmit force through that ligament, and rely on it being of appropriate length, tension, and lateral balance to allow the athlete to control the movement of his body on the lower leg.

Getting it reattached/ repaired perfectly is almost impossible, so even with the best surgeon, and the best rehab, Graham's leg will never respond the same way again. It will always be a little "off," and every movement will be a reminder of the injury. It may be mentally tough to put 100% faith in the knee in the future.

For a weekend warrior, getting back to 90% is fine. For an elite athlete...

He may never be the same again.

JMHO as I am an anesthesiologist, not an orthopedic doc.

Feel free to quote back to me next year when he comes back 110%.

- bsd