CloakNNNdagger
Hall of Fame
I knew that this wasn't going to be a "knee injury" per se as initially reported, because while on the ground face down, he was repeatedly flexing his lower legs up and down quickly. That's why I initially (and wrongfully) thought he had sustained a leg fracture. However, I really didn't entertain the quad tendon since it is typically a much older person's injury.
That said, Brown's injury unfortunately cannot be considered a benign one. Distal quadriceps tendon tears are quite uncommon injuries, especially in the NFL, since you usually don't see these injuries in patient younger than 40. Surprisingly these are typically isolated injuries that are not associated with knee ligament or cartilage trauma. It was originally felt that if NFL players were repaired "immediately," they would be assured of returning to play in the future. However, a 2013 study published in The American Journal of Sports Medicine put a damper on expectations, leaving these players a guarded prognosis. All but 3 player of the 14 players in the study sustained a complete rupture........all underwent surgical repair.......including 1 of the players that sustained the partial tear for which an original attempt at nonsurgical conservative treatment failed. A successful outcome was defined as returning to play in regular-season NFL games. Only 50% of players returned to play in regular season NFL games......certainly a low rate of return. There was a trend toward early draft rounds for those who successfully returned to play. For those who did return to play, the average number of games after injury was 40.9 (range, 12-92).
All of our hopes are for Brown's return next. However, his return (~6-8 month rehab) does have some significant challenges.
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