12-22-2023, 12:26 AM
(12-22-2023, 12:13 AM)C0de_M0nkey Wrote: The literature on Joe Burrows injury sounds horrible, but I found a few professional athletes made full recoveries and continued playing at a high level.
I couldn’t find many examples of this injury in the NFL. Philip Lindsay tore his scapholunate ligament and rushed for 1,000 yards and 4.5 YPC the next year. Darrelle Revis came back from the same injury in his final season at the age of 32. He didn’t put up great numbers, but he was also old.
There are more examples in the NBA. Jaylen Brown suffered the same injury in early 2021. He made a full recovery the next season and put up a career high average in points the following year. Romeo Langford (2020) and Bojan Bogdanovic (2020) also made full recoveries from their surgeries. Bradley Beal, Olivier Sarr, and Kenrich Williams recently recovered from their injuries so the jury is out on them.
Isaiah Whitehead (2018) and Xavier Henry (2013) were of the NBA shortly after their scapholunate ligament recoveries, but it’s not clear that the injuries were the cause. Henry tore his achilles tendon the following year and Whitehead still plays professional basketball to this day. I’m not an NBA fan so I can’t give a detailed analysis on any of these players.
There’s no comprehensive list, so I’m sure there are more examples. Thankfully my research didn’t return as much doom and gloom as I expected. Anyone who tells you that Burrow is done based on their own personal experience with the injury is wrong. However, I couldn’t find quarterbacks who suffered this injury. Burrow’s comeback will be historic, but if anyone can do it - number 9 can.
This is great research, thanks for posting this. Joe is in a unique case where he has to not only take physical punishment but he has to throw the ball and put strain on his entire arm. Both Beal and Brown tore it in their left wrist but play right handed. However, Bojan tore his in his right wrist and plays right handed. He returned the next season and had a small dip in efficiency and points per game but was still a solid player. It's unfortunate that we don't really have any QBs to work with but this is good data.
For Beal, Sarr and Kenrich, I can provide an update. Beal is playing okay. He's definitely taken a step back but he is also struggling with some other injuries this year. He's playing like a high end bench player/average-ish starter. Both Sarr and Kenrich are rotational guys and are still holding down that role. They are solid when they get minutes.
