File this one under “Yikes!”
May 19, 2008 Andre Johnson, Dancing With the 'Tards
Megan Manfull of the Comicle is reporting that Andre Johnson will miss OTAs after he had arthroscopic knee surgery on Thursday. Evidently, the knee acted up during mini-camp.
Now, I’m not worried about Andre missing reps: the dude knows this offense and probably dreams about it in technicolor at night. BUT, I am seriously worried about his health in 2008. After all, this is the knee that caused him to miss seven games in 2007, and that he had clean-up surgery (not knowing the details) is scary. I know there is a little projection going on thanks to my date with the knee knife on several occasions, but revisiting the scene of the crime is never a good idea.
The other factor is that the knee bothered Andre during the season even after the original surgery. Will this be a chronic problem? It has been for nine months and counting.
Let’s be honest here: Andre drives our offense. We can talk about the line or Teh Schaub or whomever, but when we lost Andre last year, our offensive dropped a turd. Andre stretches defenses, which in turn helps our running game. We need Andre.
Checking on Andre’s health heading into training camp will be a priority. Yes, this post smells a bit of paranoia, but after all of last year’s injuries, I’m freakin’ paranoid.
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May 19th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
God cannot possibly hate us enough to make us relive last year’s injury problems.
Right?
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May 19th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
I dunno, TBL. I know he/she hates me enough, but I’m not sure about the rest of you. Except for Matt.
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May 19th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
I’m sure it will bother him from now on….knees have a way of doing that. The question is how much it slows him down. It doesn’t sound like anyhting that will keep him off the field…and AJ seems like the kind of guy who will play through the aches and pains.
That’s my positive thinking for the day. Hopefully we have a running game this year to:
1. Take a little pressure off of the WR corps and keep things from being so catastrophic if AJ does miss some time (please God/Durga no)
2. Keep DE’s honest against our rookie LT (assuming he starts)
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May 19th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Here’s my optimistic viewpoint. I’m sure AJ hasn’t been slacking off this offseason and has still been working out pretty hard. AJ’s also a team player. If something had really been bothering him he wouldn’t have waited until OTAs to get it scoped.
Additionally, he played through this for the entire second half of last year and was still a super badass. Guys get scoped all the time and it’s not usually something that lingers. It’s not uncommon to have a little cleanup after a knee injury so until I hear something more about it I’m not going to worry much about it.
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May 19th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
I’m glad that Vega is so optimistic, but I still want to know what Sagat and Balrog think.
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May 20th, 2008 at 1:38 am
I think he’ll be OK. Although it might effect his right-right-up-B. Also, can we sign E. Honda to play nose tackle?
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May 20th, 2008 at 4:58 am
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/fb/texansfront/5791044.html
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This article basically says that the Texans knew beforehand that this might be a possibility but wanted to test it at minicamp. They don’t seem concerned.
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On another note, at the bottom of that article it says that Travis Johnson is injured. Apparently, he missed minicamp because of his wedding and now he’s out with a pelvic injury. I know you shouldn’t laugh about injuries, but that’s pretty fucking hilarious.
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May 20th, 2008 at 9:33 am
are we absolutely certain a Wal-Mart representative didn’t club AJ in the knee?
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May 20th, 2008 at 9:37 am
3-2-1 Waiting for Matt’s Travis Johnson has pelvic inflamation post.
Actually, the way that article was clipped together on TJ’s injury is inviting fans to make fun of it.
According to HT.com, he’s been having this issue for months. The way she wrote it, it almost makes the reader jump to the conclusion that he got the inflammation of the pelvic area from his honeymoon.
My take on AJ. It’s not paranoia if you have reasons to be afraid (history of overly optimistic points of view about Texans’ knees). I think what I wrote about it is fairly balanced:
http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2008/05/20/andre-johnson-gets-knee-scoped-texans-fans-panicking-in-the-str/
I think AJ’s point of view is the correct one–something to be concerned about, but no reason to be totally freaking out (like the PFT guy was suggesting).
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May 21st, 2008 at 10:04 am
This one time… On That’s Incredible…. I saw a guy eat a WHOLE BIKE!
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May 21st, 2008 at 12:01 pm
I just know what a clusterfuck my knees are after a string of operations, so, again, I’m projecting here (and not afraid to admit it). I hope it’s all good, but follow-ups are never a good sign.
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+1 to Mark for a geeky reference. Where the hell is ADF to follow up?
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May 21st, 2008 at 12:31 pm
@11 Just to make clear. Andre Johnson has had just this cleanup scope done on his knee. No other operations. His previous knee injuries were treated with rest and rehab.
Doctor guy who posts regularly over at TT says that it wouldn’t be that unusual to get a clean up after his injury, and that he is relatively optimistic about what the scope does. Overall, the bigger concern with the knee is how the MCL/PCL holds up over time because those who have had this injury in the past have a higher chance of having problems with it again.
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May 21st, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Realizing I could never write something “balanced,” and considering my complete lack of knowledge of knee surgeries, I’ll just defer everything to you.
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May 21st, 2008 at 2:04 pm
FWIW I had a complete (allograph) reconstruction of my right ACL and I’m back to doing everything I was, athletically, before my injury. I haven’t noticed any kind of slowing down other than that which comes with age.
Granted, I’m not an elite athlete by any means, but my own experience with a more serious injury than AJ leads me towards optimism. Having said that, the Texans’ unbelievable bad luck with injuries leads me towards pessimism.
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May 21st, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Crap, Fist, I was in the middle of a long-assed post and accidentally killed it.
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Basically, my worry is the cumulative effect. I know the impact that multiple surgeries had on me and, most importantly, my mobility. I was able to recover quickly from my 3rd tears of my ACL, MCL, and patella tendon, but as my body aged, the surgery - and, most importantly, the follow-ups - did eventually have a detrimental and degrading impact.
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May 22nd, 2008 at 7:01 am
BFD- You had three tears of your ACL, MCL and patella tendon? As in, 3 times? Am I reading this wrong? I hear that a patellar tendon tear is more serious than an ACL or MCL tear, and hardest to heal.
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In any event, AJ is pretty young. If there is a cumulative effect, it might not be apparent for several years, which, in a best case scenario, might shorten his career by a year or two. It wouldn’t be great if that were the case, but it would not be the end of the world, either.
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I’m still optimistic that he’ll be fine. But I have my fingers crossed anyway, just in case.
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May 22nd, 2008 at 8:11 am
3rd degree tears. My bad. Only tore the patella tendon once, grade 1 and 3 tears of the ACL (only had surgery on the 3), and a grade 2 and 3 of the MCL (surgery both times). yay me!
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May 22nd, 2008 at 9:30 am
Jesus Christ. I feel so inadequate with my single ACL tear. Actually, I think it was a rupture. Whatever it is, it’s not there anymore. We’ll see how it holds up over time. It’s only been two years.
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May 22nd, 2008 at 9:54 am
Well, it’s a contest I would prefer not to win.
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Anyway, I only feel inadequate due to my tiny penis