With possible lisfranc injury, 2007 season could be in doubt for Jones
Tuesday, December 12, 2006 By Tom Kowalski
ALLEN PARK -- With it being an almost certainty that the Detroit Lions will have one of the top three picks in April's NFL draft, the discussion has already started about what position the team should address. Quarterback, pass rusher and offensive lineman are the spots usually mentioned.
Now, unfortunately, the Lions must also consider the possibility that they're going to need a running back.
Kevin Jones, who was having the best overall season of his three-year career, sustained a significant lisfranc fracture in his left foot during last Sunday's game against Minnesota. While the Lions aren't confirming anything publicly, a source close to the situation called it a "full-blown lisfranc injury."
<SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.1 src="http://ads.mlive.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_jx.ads/www.mlive.com/xml/story/S/SPLN/@StoryAd"></SCRIPT><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=420 border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=383>
[FONT=Arial,sans-serif]Advertisement[/FONT]
</TD><TD width=85>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=420 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle width=410 bgColor=#e7efef>
</TD><TD width=10></TD></TR><TR><TD width=420 colSpan=2>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<SCRIPT language=JavaScript><!--if (parseFloat(navigator.appVersion) == 0) {document.write('<IFRAME WIDTH=468 HEIGHT=60 MARGINWIDTH=0 MARGINHEIGHT=0 HSPACE=0 VSPACE=0 FRAMEBORDER=0 SCROLLING=no BORDERCOLOR="#000000" SRC="http://ads.mlive.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_sx.ads/www.mlive.com/xml/story/S/SPLN/@StoryAd"></IFRAME>');}--></SCRIPT><NOSCRIPT>
</NOSCRIPT>The injury could be potentially devastating because complete recovery can take anywhere from six months to a couple of years. Other players, including Philadelphia Eagles running back Brian Westbrook and Lions tight end Dan Campbell, have had the injury and missed playing time. But, they also made a complete recovery.
The injury is also similar to what Lions linebacker Teddy Lehman went through last season when it took him a full year to return to the field.
When asked if a lisfranc fracture would be the worst-case scenario for Jones, Lions head coach Rod Marinelli said, "I think it would be."
Jones has rushed for 689 yards this season, but has also caught a career-high 61 passes for 520 yards and has scored eight total touchdowns, twice as many as any other Lionr.
"He's a tremendous player and you hate to lose a guy like Kevin," Marinelli said. "He's a workhorse for us and what he's done for us in terms of catching the ball and all of those things, it's been exceptional. We've got to see how it works out with him and then, obviously, plans do alter (things)."
The problem isn't that the Lions don't think Jones can fully recover from his injury and be a factor next season but they can't afford to count on it. Lisfranc injuries are often referred to as fractures and/or dislocations because there's an area in the mid foot that has a row of small bones that are held in place by ligaments. If the ligament is ruptured, the bones can be moved out of place and the foot no longer has any stability.
"It's not like a knee that's holding just two bones -- you're holding a whole series of bones together with a ligament, that's what makes it so critical," said Lehman, who sustained his injury in October of last year and didn't return to action until early November this season.
"It's frustrating," Lehman said. "It was almost a complete year before I was back playing football. You want to get out and perform and you can't."
Lehman, though, is hoping Jones will have a far quicker recovery time because their cases differ in one important aspect. While Jones was quickly diagnosed and put in a boot, Lehman's injury wasn't full diagnosed at the time and "I walked around on it for a couple of weeks," Lehman said. "Hopefully, Kevin's recovery time will be a lot quicker than mine."
Jones is expected to undergo surgery in the next three to five days and then it just becomes a guessing game about when he might return.
"I thought in March I was going to be back for (training) camp and be fine," said Lehman, who underwent his surgery in late November last year. "Then camp came around and it still wasn't fine. Camp was done and it still wasn't right."
Lehman appeared to get close to 100 percent several times, but had difficulty getting over that last hurdle.
"It's one thing to go out there and run around and run straight, that's fine," Lehman said. "Even going through drills, it's muscle memory and your body knows what's going to happen. But when you go out there and start reacting on it, it's more violent and it's a big difference.
"Once you start using it, it comes back better. There's still some pain in it and it's something I'm sure will probably be there for a lifetime. When you get up in the morning, it's going to hurt. You're going to have to warm it up every day, like in a whirlpool, to get it ready. It's tough."
Tuesday, December 12, 2006 By Tom Kowalski
ALLEN PARK -- With it being an almost certainty that the Detroit Lions will have one of the top three picks in April's NFL draft, the discussion has already started about what position the team should address. Quarterback, pass rusher and offensive lineman are the spots usually mentioned.
Now, unfortunately, the Lions must also consider the possibility that they're going to need a running back.
Kevin Jones, who was having the best overall season of his three-year career, sustained a significant lisfranc fracture in his left foot during last Sunday's game against Minnesota. While the Lions aren't confirming anything publicly, a source close to the situation called it a "full-blown lisfranc injury."
<SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.1 src="http://ads.mlive.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_jx.ads/www.mlive.com/xml/story/S/SPLN/@StoryAd"></SCRIPT><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=420 border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=383>
[FONT=Arial,sans-serif]Advertisement[/FONT]
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=420 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle width=410 bgColor=#e7efef>
<SCRIPT language=JavaScript><!--if (parseFloat(navigator.appVersion) == 0) {document.write('<IFRAME WIDTH=468 HEIGHT=60 MARGINWIDTH=0 MARGINHEIGHT=0 HSPACE=0 VSPACE=0 FRAMEBORDER=0 SCROLLING=no BORDERCOLOR="#000000" SRC="http://ads.mlive.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_sx.ads/www.mlive.com/xml/story/S/SPLN/@StoryAd"></IFRAME>');}--></SCRIPT><NOSCRIPT>
The injury is also similar to what Lions linebacker Teddy Lehman went through last season when it took him a full year to return to the field.
When asked if a lisfranc fracture would be the worst-case scenario for Jones, Lions head coach Rod Marinelli said, "I think it would be."
Jones has rushed for 689 yards this season, but has also caught a career-high 61 passes for 520 yards and has scored eight total touchdowns, twice as many as any other Lionr.
"He's a tremendous player and you hate to lose a guy like Kevin," Marinelli said. "He's a workhorse for us and what he's done for us in terms of catching the ball and all of those things, it's been exceptional. We've got to see how it works out with him and then, obviously, plans do alter (things)."
The problem isn't that the Lions don't think Jones can fully recover from his injury and be a factor next season but they can't afford to count on it. Lisfranc injuries are often referred to as fractures and/or dislocations because there's an area in the mid foot that has a row of small bones that are held in place by ligaments. If the ligament is ruptured, the bones can be moved out of place and the foot no longer has any stability.
"It's not like a knee that's holding just two bones -- you're holding a whole series of bones together with a ligament, that's what makes it so critical," said Lehman, who sustained his injury in October of last year and didn't return to action until early November this season.
"It's frustrating," Lehman said. "It was almost a complete year before I was back playing football. You want to get out and perform and you can't."
Lehman, though, is hoping Jones will have a far quicker recovery time because their cases differ in one important aspect. While Jones was quickly diagnosed and put in a boot, Lehman's injury wasn't full diagnosed at the time and "I walked around on it for a couple of weeks," Lehman said. "Hopefully, Kevin's recovery time will be a lot quicker than mine."
Jones is expected to undergo surgery in the next three to five days and then it just becomes a guessing game about when he might return.
"I thought in March I was going to be back for (training) camp and be fine," said Lehman, who underwent his surgery in late November last year. "Then camp came around and it still wasn't fine. Camp was done and it still wasn't right."
Lehman appeared to get close to 100 percent several times, but had difficulty getting over that last hurdle.
"It's one thing to go out there and run around and run straight, that's fine," Lehman said. "Even going through drills, it's muscle memory and your body knows what's going to happen. But when you go out there and start reacting on it, it's more violent and it's a big difference.
"Once you start using it, it comes back better. There's still some pain in it and it's something I'm sure will probably be there for a lifetime. When you get up in the morning, it's going to hurt. You're going to have to warm it up every day, like in a whirlpool, to get it ready. It's tough."
