Stephen Davis Update

[Rovers]

This is from "The State" newspaper in South Carolina:

 

 

Posted on Sat, Jun. 04, 2005

 

For Davis, patience is the best therapy

 

Carolina RB hopes slow recovery from knee surgery pays off on the field

 

By DAVID NEWTON

 

Senior Writer

 

 

CHARLOTTE — Carolina Panthers running back Stephen Davis was discussing his timetable to return from microfracture knee surgery when teammate Mike Minter interrupted.

 

“Steve Davis ain’t coming back,” Minter said with a smile.Davis wasn’t smiling.

“Hey, man, don’t play with me like that,” he said.

 

If the former Spartanburg High standout seems a bit sensitive to the subject, he has heard the stories of players who had the surgery and never played again.

 

But improvements in the surgery and rehabilitation process have improved the prospects of a full recovery. Temmate DeShaun Foster had the surgery in 2002 and was ready for the first day of training camp in 2003.

 

Rod Woodson, Bruce Smith and Jason Sehorn are other success stories. Davis anticipates he will be ready when the Panthers report to camp in Spartanburg next month.

 

“We’ve learned so much,” Carolina trainer Ryan Vermillion said after Friday’s voluntary camp in which Davis was a spectator. “We realize now that you can’t rush these types of repairs. “You’ve got to make sure you’re patient as a medical team and as a player.”

 

Vermillion said that wasn’t always the case in the past. Former Carolina defensive end Chuck Smith and wide receiver Patrick Jeffers, for example, never played again after the surgery.

 

“I’m not sure we were rushing, but we weren’t giving the cartilage ample time to really heal,” said Vermillion, who wasn’t on staff when Smith had the surgery in December of 2000. “We didn’t know. Nobody knew any better.

 

“We didn’t know, one, the proper way to do the surgery, and two, the proper way to do the recuperation.”

 

Vermillion said there is a difference between recuperating from microfracture surgery and arthroscopic surgery. A normal scope, he said, involves meniscus cartilage, which is the cushioning between the femur and the tibia.

 

Microfracture surgery involves articular cartilage, which covers the moving surface inside the knee.

 

“What happens is that breaks, so you have to clean that area out and then you have a hole, a divot in the bone,” Vermillion said. “That has to be covered back in with scarring.

 

“If you’re not patient it keeps cracking and cracking.”

 

Players often return from arthroscopic surgery in a matter of weeks. They typically are able to put weight on the knee within days of leaving the hospital.

 

Microfracture surgery often requires the leg to be immobilized for two months before it can sustain any weight, and even then it’s in small portions. Foster said that period of inactivity wears on you mentally and physically.

 

“It’s tough, but he’s through the toughest part of it,” he said of Davis. “He’s already started running on the treadmill, so it’s pretty much downhill from here.”

 

That doesn’t guarantee Davis will be ready. Foster had two extra months to heal before training camp and he was six years younger than Davis, who turned 31 in March.

 

Davis also has had a history of injuries. He has played a full 16 games once since entering the league in 1996 as a fourth-round pick out of Auburn.

 

“I’m itching to get out there, but they know what they’re doing,” said Davis, who lives in Columbia. “Ryan (is) doing a great job of getting me ready. I feel I’m stronger in my legs and upper body, and I’m getting closer and anxious.”

 

For insurance, the Panthers drafted Eric Shelton, a 6-foot-1, 245-pound running back from Louisville.

 

“That’s part of the business,” said Davis, who went through a similar situation with the Washington Redskins. “You’ve got to prepare yourself for the future.

 

“My thing is no matter what, I’m going to do what I have to do to get on the field and be out there making plays and helping this team win.”

 

 

It looks like even if Davis isn't quite ready for training camp, he should at least be back in time for the start of the season. The Foster injury watch is now officially ON!

Edited June 5, 2005 by Rovers

[Swampnuts]

If I hear any new local news on this I'll pass it on. This stinks of RBBC by committee though. I know Fox has said initially that it would be DeShaun, but if Davis is healthy and Shelton performs well in camp...... Who knows???

[MrGameTime]

There is no way I could draft S. Davis again that knee cost me last year but that's my bad I should not have had him on my squad any way!!!!!