dezertbill Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 I don't know how the Bills doctors handled this, but it's very likely it's not that simple Both Watkins surgeries have reportedly been performed by Dr Robert Anderson in Charlotte, NC. He isn't a "Bills doctor" or medical staff per se. He's nationally renowned as a foot and ankle specialist surgeon. A lot of NFL athletes fly in to Charlotte to use him. He's pretty much the go-to guy for this stuff. With a Jones fracture, as with many other medical issues, there are trade-offs and judgement calls involved. Specifically, with a Jones fracture, 75-80% of the fractures unite (heal) without surgery with immobilization (cast or walking boot). There are further refinements of the decision making - in one location, the union rate is higher, in another, the union rate is much lower and surgery is almost always done for athletes. So depending upon specifics, Sammy's decision (and/or Bills doctors recommendation) to not have surgery immediately after the end of last season when he was reported to be playing with stress fractures in his foot, could have been a perfectly reasonable judgement call. Surgery has complications, after all. The trade-off is if the surgery isn't done immediately, the chances of a second surgery being needed increase. So evidently Sammy fell into the 20-25% who suffer non-union after immobilization, surgery was done, and yeah, he needs a 2nd surgery. It's a crappy place for a fracture, similar to a broken scaphoid bone - healing is poor because the blood supply is poor. There's also a lot of ancillary treatment said to promote healing, from simple measures like no weight bearing to use of osteogenesis stimulation. Doctors differ in what they prescribe and patients differ in how well they comply. It's not unknown that some star athletes are not the most compliant patients, especially initially. To your point, I'm not speaking about the procedure itself. I'm talking about how the athlete is advised during the off season and regular season. Timing of the Surgery, recovery programs, training timetables and how it is treated during the off season and regular season all come into play with that. Could have Ryan been pushing for Sammy to play hurt to save his job? Like you said, it's not a cut and clear situation and I'm sure You have to take into account Sammy wanting to play. What's most frustrating is how critical the off season is to a player such as Watkins. The key to many players success is the program they put themselves through to get ready for the season. It seems Year after year he is recovering from some sort of injury that hampers him from going 100% towards off season workouts. That's what hurts him the most and eventually leads to not improving on his craft as much as he could have and not being at his best during the regular season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 I never said I was a doctor or had the same injuries as Sammy. In fact I explained everything that concerned me in the post that you responded to. Everyone wants to compare this to Dez and Julio but I see some differences. When I figure out a better way to articulate those differences I will make a more coherent post in the future. I just get the feeling that it is going to be more troublesome for Sammy than it was for those guys. I never based my "gut feeling" on any facts. I just get the feeling that injuries may derail Sammy's career in Buffalo. His foot is going to get stepped on a lot more considering the fact that he plays a contact sport. Neither Dez nor Julio were out for getting their foot stepped on. Yea they were out again without even having the chance to have it stepped on. If anything one might think sammys was in better shape based on your logic More realistic is that they just got shelved early while the bills hoped he could play under similar circumstances. Would you really feel better if they had put him down in august? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurman#1 Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 It would be interesting to see data on trading up and down in the draft and how they have worked out. My money is on trading down is the way to go. Been done. Wanna improve your chances? Trade down and accumulate picks. Wanna reduce your chances? Trade up and get rid of picks. http://harvardsportsanalysis.org/2012/04/dont-trade-up-in-the-nfl-draft/ https://harvardsportsanalysis.wordpress.com/2011/11/30/how-to-value-nfl-draft-picks/ https://www.chicagobooth.edu/alumni/downloads/thaler_losers_curse.pdf https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/no-team-can-beat-the-draft/ his foot was sore after Baltimore and they did an X-ray to see if it was re-damaged and it wasn't. just going by what was reported - his foot was stepped on and that was the setback. With that injury, roughly 20% of people need second surgeries. And that's not football players, just anyone who has the surgery. Probably the odds are worse for guys who put such stress on the area as NFL WRs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurman#1 Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 (edited) his foot was sore after Baltimore and they did an X-ray to see if it was re-damaged and it wasn't. just going by what was reported - his foot was stepped on and that was the setback. "No new break was found." But there was severe discomfort. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/09/12/report-sammy-watkins-still-dealing-with-foot-problems/ Then after he was stepped on he talks about more discomfort but says, " "basically like it broke again, but it didn't." https://buffalonews.com/2016/12/08/sammy-watkins-got-stepped-story-september-seems-kind-serious/ Sounds like they x-rayed it again and found nothing. Don't see any proof anywhere that the problem was caused by being stepped on, though it sounds like it was a very painful incident. Edited January 21, 2017 by Thurman#1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. WEO Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 (edited) Isn't that the same "DR. Robert Anderson" who said Sammy didn't need a second surgery in October? And why is everyone assuming that Sammy's injury is identical to Jones's, etc, and will therefore have the exact same outcome? It would be great if everyone who had surgery had the exact same outcome and it was a symptom free, full recovery. That's often not how it works... Edited January 21, 2017 by Mr. WEO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
26CornerBlitz Posted January 21, 2017 Author Share Posted January 21, 2017 @Stephania_ESPN You asked, we answered. It's a new edition of #AnsweringTheBell with foot and ankle specialist, Dr. Bob Anderson. http://www.espn.com/espnradio/play?id=18510563 @SalSports Sal Capaccio Retweeted Stephania Bell Some REALLY good info here from Dr. Anderson, who performed the surgery on Sammy, all about this exact procedure and what's next (6:30): Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 @Stephania_ESPN You asked, we answered. It's a new edition of #AnsweringTheBell with foot and ankle specialist, Dr. Bob Anderson. http://www.espn.com/espnradio/play?id=18510563 @SalSports Sal Capaccio Retweeted Stephania Bell Some REALLY good info here from Dr. Anderson, who performed the surgery on Sammy, all about this exact procedure and what's next (6:30): Care to give some summary of it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarleyNY Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 To your point, I'm not speaking about the procedure itself. I'm talking about how the athlete is advised during the off season and regular season. Timing of the Surgery, recovery programs, training timetables and how it is treated during the off season and regular season all come into play with that. Could have Ryan been pushing for Sammy to play hurt to save his job? Like you said, it's not a cut and clear situation and I'm sure You have to take into account Sammy wanting to play. What's most frustrating is how critical the off season is to a player such as Watkins. The key to many players success is the program they put themselves through to get ready for the season. It seems Year after year he is recovering from some sort of injury that hampers him from going 100% towards off season workouts. That's what hurts him the most and eventually leads to not improving on his craft as much as he could have and not being at his best during the regular season The most frustrating thing to me is that in 2017 Watkins will be playing the last season of his rookie deal. 2018 would be his option season. If he doesn't stay healthy in 2017 (and it's not starting out great with that surgery), then how could the Bills sign him to a long term deal? They'd have to execute his option for 2018, hope he can stay on the field and then use a tag if they can't work out a deal. That is not a path I'd want to go down if I could help it. The other aspect of this is that I don't think Watkins is all that happy in Buffalo. He is not getting the number of targets he wants and he's been frustrated by the lack of a quality passing QB. He's vented about both of those things. If he makes it to his option year I see the Bills in the same situation as they are with Gilmore. Sitting here deciding if they should tag him because that's the only way they're going to keep him. Probably the best way to entice Watkins to stay here is to make sure he's got a quality passing QB and some additional talent at WR to help keep defenses from keying on him so much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireChan Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 Isn't that the same "DR. Robert Anderson" who said Sammy didn't need a second surgery in October? And why is everyone assuming that Sammy's injury is identical to Jones's, etc, and will therefore have the exact same outcome? It would be great if everyone who had surgery had the exact same outcome and it was a symptom free, full recovery. That's often not how it works... It's a Bills player WEO. Lord knows we've been blessed to never have gotten unlucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 @salsports Have been told Bills WR Sammy Watkins is "on schedule" with "no setbacks" after 2nd foot surgery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H2o Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 @salsports Have been told Bills WR Sammy Watkins is "on schedule" with "no setbacks" after 2nd foot surgery. Hopefully the heavens have opened and the light has shown down upon Sammy's foot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 @salsports Have been told Bills WR Sammy Watkins is "on schedule" with "no setbacks" after 2nd foot surgery. Ryan L Bills has been seen around the hospital wearing steel-toed boots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
26CornerBlitz Posted March 1, 2017 Author Share Posted March 1, 2017 @JaySkurski [bN] Blitz: #Bills coach Sean McDermott provided an update on Sammy Watkins on Wednesday at the #NFLCombine https://t.co/Lxw0j2bgZ1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alphadawg7 Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 @JaySkurski [bN] Blitz: #Bills coach Sean McDermott provided an update on Sammy Watkins on Wednesday at the #NFLCombine https://t.co/Lxw0j2bgZ1 Nice 26CornerBlitz...thanks for posting the update. If he can get past the foot injury, I feel like he's going to have a big year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. WEO Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 @salsports Have been told Bills WR Sammy Watkins is "on schedule" with "no setbacks" after 2nd foot surgery. repost from last year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
26CornerBlitz Posted March 1, 2017 Author Share Posted March 1, 2017 Nice 26CornerBlitz...thanks for posting the update. If he can get past the foot injury, I feel like he's going to have a big year. You're welcome. Good health for Sammy will translate into much needed production. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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