Torn achilles for Suggs

[Dave Lapham]

The pressure will be on Upshaw as a rookie to fill some big shoes. Suggs is so versatile, he can move all over the field stressing offenses to locate and account for him. Is Sergio Kendle recovered formn his skull fracture enough to be a factor. There are conflicting reports as to how Suggs tore the achilles. He says he was running conditioning drills. Others say he was playing basketnall. Big difference for him contracturally. When will he rreturn? Will he be the same athletically when he does? This is a big deal.

[wxwax]

He's 29. In all likelihood he won't be back until next season. As I understand it, tendons heal slowly because they don't get a big blood supply. I'm not sure what the long-term ramifications are of a torn Achilles, whether or not athletes generally make a full recovery.

[Curtis]

This is a major blow to that defense. Even by chance he makes it back during the late season (november/december), he will not be of any use to the Ravens. It's best he stay out the whole season.

[iwatt]

He's 29. In all likelihood he won't be back until next season. As I understand it, tendons heal slowly because they don't get a big blood supply. I'm not sure what the long-term ramifications are of a torn Achilles, whether or not athletes generally make a full recovery.

He's going to call Kobe's doctor in Germany....the same guy who worked on Manning's neck

In any case, I'm going to miss T-sizzle. Him and Ngata had a symbiotic relationship in which the sum was greater than the parts. 2 playmakers are more than 1+1 when you add in the confusion and alignment shifts both pesented. Loosing your DC and your best rusher (3 down player as well) is huge.

[packa7x]

Ouch! Rough. Big blow to the Ravens.

[ElGuapo]

I personally know quite a few athletes that have ruptured their achilles. From what I've seen, rehabbing an achilles is similar to the hamstring in that both take a much longer time to heal than one might think. Athletes used to coming back from injury tend to push their return from both of these injuries which tends to prolong the lingering effects of the injury. The smart athletes shut it down and wait for these injuries to completely heal before attempting to come back.

Interestingly I found on the Mayo Clinic website that men are more likely to suffer achilles injuries than women at a rate of 20:1. Of course, it doesn't indicate if that is because there is generally a higher percentage of men playing the high intensity sports than women. Still an interesting statistic.

As for Suggs, I hope that being only a partial tear gets him back out quicker but one never knows. I saw Suggs' quote below and makes me think that he will try to push him back too fast, just to prove "people" wrong. Seems ridiculous though IMO:

“Absolutely, middle to end of October,” Suggs wrote in a text message to Scout shortly after word broke of his injury. “Definitely beginning of November. I love how you guys are saying out for the season, just gonna make my comeback that much bigger.”

[iwatt]

Interestingly I found on the Mayo Clinic website that men are more likely to suffer achilles injuries than women at a rate of 20:1. Of course, it doesn't indicate if that is because there is generally a higher percentage of men playing the high intensity sports than women. Still an interesting statistic.

I'm guessing there's at least a 20:1 ratio of over 30 male pickup games. Achilles and hamstring are the poster childs for badly stretched or fatigue induced failure in men. You really need to spend almost half an hour stretching after a certain age, something we don't do.

[Curtis]

It is possible for him to resume normal activities by November (by normal I mean general workouts and training, not blitzling qb's), but it would be more beneficial for Suggs to just sit out the season. The chances of re-injury will be diminished greatly. Also, it will be easier to evaluate if there is any prodromal symptoms of tendonitis which may develop.

[BuckeyeRidley]

Terrible to happen to Suggs; I would like to see him back in the middle of the season; Im optimistic he will. Also, I understand that Bucs' Da'Quan Bowers did the same during offseason program workout. The Bucs have even already scheduled a surgery for tomorrow.

Crazy Events this past week in this way.

[brauneyz]

Remember all the Achilles and hammies popping last year and we blamed the lockout for denying the athletes the proper training environment? We just did the experiment. Looks like no difference. Ain't science grand?