IndyStar Article: Doctor discusses AR's injury, history, outlook...

[masterlock]

IndyStar published an interesting article about Richardson's recent surgery. In the article, Dr. Morse, who writes writes reports on NFL players' injury histories, discusses Richardson's injury history dating back to high school. He discusses the AC injury, and why it was a good thing he had the surgery. 

 

I'd suggest reading the actual article, but some key take-aways, according to Dr. Morse are:

• The ligaments were likely weakened due to previous injury [which] can make them weak and prone to injury.
• It won't impact him. He won't have power issues or accuracy issues.
• His risk for injury to the point where he'd have to have surgery again is probably 3%. 

[DougDew]

Goodness though, this is disconcerting:

 

Morse -- who has not examined Richardson -- pointed out the lengthy list of physical issues Richardson had battled dating back to high school.  "Out of all of the quarterbacks expected to be drafted, Richardson has one of the longest injury histories," Morse wrote. "Just because a player doesn't miss a game does not mean that they are 100% healthy or did not leave the game early due to injury."

 

According to Morse's report, Richardson had sustained 11 injuries prior to the AC sprain he suffered Oct. 3 in the game against the Titans. They include four knee injuries, three hamstring injuries, two shoulder injuries, a concussion and an ankle injury. Richardson is 21.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

9 minutes ago, DougDew said:

Goodness though, this is disconcerting:

 

Morse -- who has not examined Richardson -- pointed out the lengthy list of physical issues Richardson had battled dating back to high school.  "Out of all of the quarterbacks expected to be drafted, Richardson has one of the longest injury histories," Morse wrote. "Just because a player doesn't miss a game does not mean that they are 100% healthy or did not leave the game early due to injury."

 

According to Morse's report, Richardson had sustained 11 injuries prior to the AC sprain he suffered Oct. 3 in the game against the Titans. They include four knee injuries, three hamstring injuries, two shoulder injuries, a concussion and an ankle injury. Richardson is 21.

How many players play while injured? 

[DougDew]

4 minutes ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

How many players play while injured? 

He didn't say.  He just said that AR has the most extensive injury history of any of the QBs available for the draft.

 

My impression is that most people think these injuries were a surprise.  Apparently, if AR was the most injury prone coming into the draft, then what happened to him should not be unexpected or be considered a stroke of bad luck.  That's how I think about it.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

1 minute ago, DougDew said:

He didn't say.  He just said that AR has the most extensive injury history of any of the QBs available for the draft.

 

My impression is that most people think these injuries were a surprise.  Apparently, if AR was the most injury prone coming into the draft, then what happened to him should not be unexpected or considered a stroke of bad luck.  That's how I think about it.

Mr point was players play with injuries all the time. I bet people would be shocked if they seen every players actual injuries laid out. 

[richard pallo]

12 minutes ago, DougDew said:

Goodness though, this is disconcerting:

 

Morse -- who has not examined Richardson -- pointed out the lengthy list of physical issues Richardson had battled dating back to high school.  "Out of all of the quarterbacks expected to be drafted, Richardson has one of the longest injury histories," Morse wrote. "Just because a player doesn't miss a game does not mean that they are 100% healthy or did not leave the game early due to injury."

 

According to Morse's report, Richardson had sustained 11 injuries prior to the AC sprain he suffered Oct. 3 in the game against the Titans. They include four knee injuries, three hamstring injuries, two shoulder injuries, a concussion and an ankle injury. Richardson is 21.

During the course of a players career I would bet they all suffer numerous injuries.  Counting high school and college that’s a lot of years.  Don’t forget their bodies are continually growing and maturing over those years.  And he was very young when he entered the draft.  He came out early too.  I’m not concerned right now.  I think as he matures and learns to play the game smartly he will be okay.

[DougDew]

29 minutes ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

Mr point was players play with injuries all the time. I bet people would be shocked if they seen every players actual injuries laid out. 

I'm sure the Dr. knows this.  He was comparing the histories of AR to other QBs in the draft.  That's all.  So if AR gets injured this season more than the other QBs, its not really a surprise, is it?

 

 

 

[DougDew]

24 minutes ago, richard pallo said:

During the course of a players career I would bet they all suffer numerous injuries.  Counting high school and college that’s a lot of years.  Don’t forget their bodies are continually growing and maturing over those years.  And he was very young when he entered the draft.  He came out early too.  I’m not concerned right now.  I think as he matures and learns to play the game smartly he will be okay.

But apparently AR has suffered more injuries than the others.....who also played football when they were the same age as AR.  Whatever degree you think all players play with injuries, apparently AR is near the top of the list.   I'm simply pointing out that the injury history does not appear to be common knowledge and it works counter to the theory that his issues this year are the result of simple bad luck. 

 

I'm not forecasting the future.

 

But its good to hear about the shoulder and favorable prospects for recovery and non-re-injury.

[mirobi48]

Funny leading up to the draft no one talked about his old injuries? Did the Colts know? probably, Also with all those injuries you would think AR should know how to protect himself better

[tweezy32]

28 minutes ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

How many players play while injured? 

Not many, players are soft nowadays and sit out with the smallest boo boos.

[Jason_]

57 minutes ago, DougDew said:

Richardson is 21.

 

this is the key point, imo.  He's still young and his body is still maturing.  hopefully another offseason working in the Colts strength and conditioning program will help.

[RollerColt]

56 minutes ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

How many players play while injured? 

I did... Almost every week there was something. Most of them I kept it to myself and didn't tell the coaches. Of course the concussion stuff was much harder to hide when I was literally knocked unconscious. 

 

In hindsight, it's was a pretty stupid thing to do.

[iuswingman]

1 hour ago, DougDew said:

He didn't say.  He just said that AR has the most extensive injury history of any of the QBs available for the draft.

 

My impression is that most people think these injuries were a surprise.  Apparently, if AR was the most injury prone coming into the draft, then what happened to him should not be unexpected or be considered a stroke of bad luck.  That's how I think about it.

 

I wonder how many of his repeat injuries would have been avoided if he had surgery instead of just playing through it.

[Tsarquise]

1 hour ago, DougDew said:

Goodness though, this is disconcerting:

 

Morse -- who has not examined Richardson -- pointed out the lengthy list of physical issues Richardson had battled dating back to high school.  "Out of all of the quarterbacks expected to be drafted, Richardson has one of the longest injury histories," Morse wrote. "Just because a player doesn't miss a game does not mean that they are 100% healthy or did not leave the game early due to injury."

 

According to Morse's report, Richardson had sustained 11 injuries prior to the AC sprain he suffered Oct. 3 in the game against the Titans. They include four knee injuries, three hamstring injuries, two shoulder injuries, a concussion and an ankle injury. Richardson is 21.

At first, I thought you were saying AR was Bob Sanders lol

[2006Coltsbestever]

All of his injuries prior to coming here have been nick-knack injuries except his shoulder. The article states, now that he is having shoulder surgery, the probability of him injuring it again is 3% and it won't affect his throwing motion or arm strength. I like those odds. Of course, there will be a few in here blow his injuries out of proportion .

[DougDew]

31 minutes ago, iuswingman said:

 

I wonder how many of his repeat injuries would have been avoided if he had surgery instead of just playing through it.

You could also ask, I wonder how many total games. starts, and football plays he would have had in his career if he had the surgeries instead of playing?  He may have ended up not even playing much football. lost his starting job to another player, or gave up the game after several surgeries.   Lots of IF's no one can answer.  

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

37 minutes ago, iuswingman said:

 

I wonder how many of his repeat injuries would have been avoided if he had surgery instead of just playing through it.

100%.  Seems like the medical staff at Florida was not very good.

[DougDew]

34 minutes ago, Tsarquise said:

At first, I thought you were saying AR was Bob Sanders lol

I'm quoting an article.  I'm not saying anything.

[2006Coltsbestever]

I think everyone in here including myself are anxious to see how AR plays next year. The anxiety is really tough on people because he is our future. I get it. That is why I am enjoying this season and just living it up when we win because you never know what the future may bring.

[BlackTiger]

The way I see it is he was always a high risk pick and they took a pretty big gamble by drafting him where they did.  Im not going to be surprised at all if he doesnt pan out

 

He could also become a good player thats fun to watch.  I guess we will find out in the next year or two

[Tsarquise]

18 minutes ago, DougDew said:

I'm quoting an article.  I'm not saying anything.

Oh, I thought the last paragraph, which doesn't contain quotes, was your input 

[stitches]

2 hours ago, DougDew said:

He didn't say.  He just said that AR has the most extensive injury history of any of the QBs available for the draft.

 

My impression is that most people think these injuries were a surprise.  Apparently, if AR was the most injury prone coming into the draft, then what happened to him should not be unexpected or be considered a stroke of bad luck.  That's how I think about it.

Meh. I really don't know how to evaluate this when we don't even know what most of those injuries were and were not serious enough to sideline him for any considerable amount of time. A ton of players, including QBs. have injuries and play through them. Some of those are serious, some not so much. How much does it matter that he's had knocks here and there if he hasn't missed many games with them? 

 

Here's what I can gather about his injuries:

 

Senior year HS(2019) - shoulder injury - misses the last month of the season (this seems like the most serious one)

 

Freshman year College - hamstring, concussion, "nagging pain in right knee which required arthroscopic surgery"(this was done after the season)

 

You can argue that the only serious injury he's had(before this one) is the shoulder injury in HS and that was like... 4 years ago. 

 

It's kind of a moot point right now. The important thing is that he's injured now. I hope he learns to protect himself better, but like I've stated previously - I don't want him changing the way he plays. 

 

 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

Ballard said it right in his little interview. Most college players have to learn to protect themselves and learn game speed and he will get it figured out.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

The doctor that was in this story blocked a bunch of colts fans when Richardson got this injury because he had a agenda. Fans went after him.

[2006Coltsbestever]

15 minutes ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

Ballard said it right in his little interview. Most college players have to learn to protect themselves and learn game speed and he will get it figured out.

It is hard to believe that some overlook the 4 games AR played in regarding experience on the Pro level. Not only did he look unphased at times and play well, him getting injured should teach him a valuable lesson. Going into next season, he should have much more confidence.

[IinD]

11 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

It is hard to believe that some overlook the 4 games AR played in regarding experience on the Pro level. Not only did he look unphased at times and play well, him getting injured should teach him a valuable lesson. Going into next season, he should have much more confidence.

Just to add on to your points I bet it's probably a good thing for his young body not get banged around for a few months and hopefully this few months of rest/rehab/strength training will be good for his future.

 

Fingers crossed of course.

[2006Coltsbestever]

6 minutes ago, IinD said:

Just to add on to your points I bet it's probably a good thing for his young body not get banged around for a few months and hopefully this few months of rest/rehab/strength training will be good for his future.

 

Fingers crossed of course.

Next year is really going to be fun, especially if we add another playmaker on offense. Downs is already starting to remind me of TY Hilton. Pitt is pretty solid too. We have Taylor taken care of as well.

[chad72]

2 hours ago, DougDew said:

He didn't say.  He just said that AR has the most extensive injury history of any of the QBs available for the draft.

 

My impression is that most people think these injuries were a surprise.  Apparently, if AR was the most injury prone coming into the draft, then what happened to him should not be unexpected or be considered a stroke of bad luck.  That's how I think about it.

 

Of course, Ballard and folks had to know about it, yet took the risk?? Is that how it played out? Well, water under the bridge, and if he turns it around and plays 80-90% of his games the next few years, all will be forgotten.

[DougDew]

3 minutes ago, chad72 said:

 

Of course, Ballard and folks had to know about it, yet took the risk?? Is that how it played out? Well, water under the bridge, and if he turns it around and plays 80-90% of his games the next few years, all will be forgotten.

Oh sure.  I wouldn't begin to opine about what Ballard knew.  In the timeliness about the forum's current discussions about AR, this is simply a new bit of info that adds to what we as fans knew or didn't know all of this time.

[lollygagger8]

I remember AR saying he had some pains he never felt before after his first game. 

 

He's young yes, but I'm guessing this will help him learn that the NFL is filled with world class athletes and it isn't college anymore. 

[2006Coltsbestever]

Every GM does their homework and knows a player past injuries. Ballard knew of AR's injuries. That is just common sense. They interview these guys and know everything about them in today's NFL.

[DougDew]

1 hour ago, stitches said:

Meh. I really don't know how to evaluate this when we don't even know what most of those injuries were and were not serious enough to sideline him for any considerable amount of time. A ton of players, including QBs. have injuries and play through them. Some of those are serious, some not so much. How much does it matter that he's had knocks here and there if he hasn't missed many games with them? 

 

Here's what I can gather about his injuries:

 

Senior year HS(2019) - shoulder injury - misses the last month of the season (this seems like the most serious one)

 

Freshman year College - hamstring, concussion, "nagging pain in right knee which required arthroscopic surgery"(this was done after the season)

 

You can argue that the only serious injury he's had(before this one) is the shoulder injury in HS and that was like... 4 years ago. 

 

It's kind of a moot point right now. The important thing is that he's injured now. I hope he learns to protect himself better, but like I've stated previously - I don't want him changing the way he plays. 

 

 

Oh sure, if I did not say it I meant to.  The Dr. is giving his opinion, but we don't really know what he looked at or the seriousness of the injuries.

 

All we can infer is that he looked at all of the QBs equally, and concluded that AR was near the top of the list in injury frequency. I assume as a Dr. of medical sports, he's not going to equate contusions with tears, etc, so his conclusion about AR's frequency relative to the other QBs he's talking about seems objective to me.

[Indyfan4life]

AR and his shoulder will be fine. 
 

Last time I’ll say this: Tua was injured constantly to start his career and everyone said he should call it quits. The guy learned how to protect himself and fall properly, and now look at him. 
 

Richardson will learn to protect himself better with hits and being knocked down. 
 

Everyone needs to stop panicking and putting their own narrative on things. The ship isn’t going down and no one needs a life boat or vest. 

[stitches]

44 minutes ago, DougDew said:

Oh sure, if I did not say it I meant to.  The Dr. is giving his opinion, but we don't really know what he looked at or the seriousness of the injuries.

 

All we can infer is that he looked at all of the QBs equally, and concluded that AR was near the top of the list in injury frequency. I assume as a Dr. of medical sports, he's not going to equate contusions with tears, etc, so his conclusion about AR's frequency relative to the other QBs he's talking about seems objective to me.

 

Since I don't have the reports about his injury... is this true? Are 3 of the 4 knee injuries the same single injury(I assume that was the "nagging pain in the knee" report I found)? And the 4th knee injury being one where he sprained his knee dancing(and he doesn't seem to have missed any games for any of those)? The rest seems to be... a concussion, hamstring injuries and the shoulder injury. I really have no idea about the qualifications of that doctor and if/whether he has some axe to grind like some fans seem to be suggesting... 

 

But in general... again... it's kind of a moot point at this current time. Ballard and the Colts medical staff seems to have been OK with his medical report before the draft. At least OK enough to draft him top 5. I don't see anything of big concern in his medical history(with the limited info we have). There are players with much worse histories than this. For me the much more pressing issue right now is his ability to protect himself, rather than... again... some supposed horrible medical history that is so convoluted and uncertain that even that doctor doesn't seem know what his exact injuries are and why he's missed like... a month or two of play in 5 years with such "horrific" medical history. 

[sb41champs]

Thanks for sharing some of the points that Dr Morse made about our new franchise QB!!

 

That's outstanding news!!

[DougDew]

28 minutes ago, stitches said:

 

Since I don't have the reports about his injury... is this true? Are 3 of the 4 knee injuries the same single injury(I assume that was the "nagging pain in the knee" report I found)? And the 4th knee injury being one where he sprained his knee dancing(and he doesn't seem to have missed any games for any of those)? The rest seems to be... a concussion, hamstring injuries and the shoulder injury. I really have no idea about the qualifications of that doctor and if/whether he has some axe to grind like some fans seem to be suggesting... 

 

But in general... again... it's kind of a moot point at this current time. Ballard and the Colts medical staff seems to have been OK with his medical report before the draft. At least OK enough to draft him top 5. I don't see anything of big concern in his medical history(with the limited info we have). There are players with much worse histories than this. For me the much more pressing issue right now is his ability to protect himself, rather than... again... some supposed horrible medical history that is so convoluted and uncertain that even that doctor doesn't seem know what his exact injuries are and why he's missed like... a month or two of play in 5 years with such "horrific" medical history. 

Yeah, folks can dig into this as deeply as they want.  Anything reported in the media can be biased or simply misinformed or exaggerated.  I don't know the legitimacy of the site that's hosting the article.

 

I also don't know what agenda could be promoted by this article, or what the reason would be to lie or misinform.  I assume it comes down to what his definition of injuries are, and if its the same definition he applied to the history of the other QBs.  Since the injuries could be a result of the teams reporting something, what gets reported by one team might not get reported by another.  

[IndySouthsider]

4 hours ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

100%.  Seems like the medical staff at Florida was not very good.

I’m pretty sure his initial shoulder injury happened as an Eastside Ram. I also think surgery would have been the financial obligation of his family. 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

1 hour ago, IndySouthsider said:

I’m pretty sure his initial shoulder injury happened as an Eastside Ram. I also think surgery would have been the financial obligation of his family. 

It did. But the knee injuries seemed to not be well cared for at Florida too.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

4 hours ago, stitches said:

 

Since I don't have the reports about his injury... is this true? Are 3 of the 4 knee injuries the same single injury(I assume that was the "nagging pain in the knee" report I found)? And the 4th knee injury being one where he sprained his knee dancing(and he doesn't seem to have missed any games for any of those)? The rest seems to be... a concussion, hamstring injuries and the shoulder injury. I really have no idea about the qualifications of that doctor and if/whether he has some axe to grind like some fans seem to be suggesting... 

 

But in general... again... it's kind of a moot point at this current time. Ballard and the Colts medical staff seems to have been OK with his medical report before the draft. At least OK enough to draft him top 5. I don't see anything of big concern in his medical history(with the limited info we have). There are players with much worse histories than this. For me the much more pressing issue right now is his ability to protect himself, rather than... again... some supposed horrible medical history that is so convoluted and uncertain that even that doctor doesn't seem know what his exact injuries are and why he's missed like... a month or two of play in 5 years with such "horrific" medical history. 

Yes it seems so. This doctor went on a blocking spree and blocked all the colt fans who disagreed with his little tweet about richarsdons injuries. I mean one that was listed on there said he hurt it dancing lol.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

I can see if I can find the tweet that Dr put out.