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Is D.ROBERTSON healthy?


Shadetree

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Daily News is reporting he's getting an Alabama? doctor to take another look at his bothersome knee.

Although the article stated it is something he has dealt with since his rookie year, I'm afraid that his career could certaintly be cut short.

At the very least, we should have capable bodies as depth at the DT spot. Right now, we dont.

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Here's the meat of the article.

Some pretty scary phrases in there, IMO: "He'll just have to play with it his whole career", "bone on bone", "pain tolerence issue".

Sounds like his knee may always be hurting him.

On the other hand I just wouldn't panic yet: yes, he's missed some practices due to it, but that may have been preautionary since he didn't know what was causing the pain, rather than a matter of "I can't go today."

He may well have a full, productive career taking a few advil before each game.

The REAL question is this: is the condition degenerative.

If not you're probably fine. Football players play in pain all the time.

If it is degenerative.... that would suck balls for you guys.

Defensive tackle Dewayne Robertson, one of the Jets' defensive anchors, visited renowned orthopedist James Andrews yesterday in Birmingham, Ala., to get a second opinion on a problematic knee, the Daily News has learned.

Robertson, the fourth pick in the 2003 draft, has missed several practices in training camp due to discomfort. Until yesterday, the club hadn't acknowledged any sort of knee problem.

Surgery isn't an option, according to Herm Edwards and Robertson's agent.

"It's just something he'll have to deal with his whole career," Edwards said.

Neither Edwards nor the agent, Hadley Engelhard, felt comfortable discussing the club's diagnosis, although Engelhard claimed there is "no structural damage."

It's believed that Robertson, 23, who hasn't missed a game in two seasons, has little or no cartilage in his knee, presumably the result of a previous operation. It is causing a "bone on bone" effect in the joint, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Players have been known to play many years with that type of condition; it often becomes a pain-tolerance issue.

In Robertson's case, it has to be a concern because he is such a valuable player. The Jets traded two first-round picks and gave him $13million in bonuses, expecting him to become a dominant player.

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The REAL question is this: is the condition degenerative.

If not you're probably fine. Football players play in pain all the time.

Absolutely.

Having no cartlidge in the knee wears down both the bone and the knee joint itself over time.

I read an article a few months back where doctors tried to replace knee cartiledge from cadavers but they could not get it to take in a live human knee.

They have also tried to use different synthetic forms but nothing seems to work.

You would think that by now medical science would have come up with something.

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Interesting. Obviously us fans dont really know if it is serious or not but it can never be good to hear that a guy who lives in the trenches might have knee problems? Not Good. Then again he might be able to just play with it the rest of his career, who knows??

Draft a D-Tackle on Day 1 next year.

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Yo, R.Seymour.....you totally wussed out on that bet.

<Seinfeld> "You're a wus."

Anyway...like you said, if it's degenerative, he's toast within 3-4 years, maybe sooner considering his size. I'm your a-typical pessimistic Jets fan so you can imagine the nausea I feel when i think about our D-line (...and O-line) depth.

Not encouraging.

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When I had my shoulder surgery I was informed that I had bone on bone contact because I had worn off the 'enamel' for lack of a better term, that coats the bones and prevents the friction, etc. As such I've literally worn a groove into my shoulder joint and as of 2005, there is no medical way to replace the coating. It still hurts like a bitch at times.

Now change that to a knee and have it support 300lbs. If that's the case D-Rob will have problems. If not he'll be fine.

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Please.

If you read the article by the Daily News, players can go on and play and it's basically a non issue. Dewayne will be fine, if he wasn't fine we'd have every single newspaper in the Tri-State area talking about the Jets going after another DT and such, give it a freakin rest.

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Wow, talk about blowing this thing WAY out of proportion. This was only reported in 1 paper today, if it was such a huge deal I'm sure other people might have said something. It's a minor concern at most.

He's a 320 lb DT that we paid alot of money for with enough of a problem in his knee that he needs/wants a 2nd doctor to take a look at it.

When you take a look at the rest of our DT's, it's NOT a 'minor' concern.

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Absolutely.

Having no cartlidge in the knee wears down both the bone and the knee joint itself over time.

I read an article a few months back where doctors tried to replace knee cartiledge from cadavers but they could not get it to take in a live human knee.

They have also tried to use different synthetic forms but nothing seems to work.

You would think that by now medical science would have come up with something.

Yeah. I was just gonna ask why they cant replace some of the cartilege???? They do all kinds of crazy operations these days. Hell, I hear they can add skin to you pe**is. :lol::lol: So why the hell cant they help Drob with his knee???

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Ailing knee sacks Robertson; surgery not likely

BY RICH CIMINI

DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Robertson

Defensive tackle Dewayne Robertson, one of the Jets' defensive anchors, visited renowned orthopedist James Andrews yesterday in Birmingham, Ala., to get a second opinion on a problematic knee, the Daily News has learned.

Robertson, the fourth pick in the 2003 draft, has missed several practices in training camp due to discomfort. Until yesterday, the club hadn't acknowledged any sort of knee problem.

Surgery isn't an option, according to Herm Edwards and Robertson's agent.

"It's just something he'll have to deal with his whole career," Edwards said.

Neither Edwards nor the agent, Hadley Engelhard, felt comfortable discussing the club's diagnosis, although Engelhard claimed there is "no structural damage."

It's believed that Robertson, 23, who hasn't missed a game in two seasons, has little or no cartilage in his knee, presumably the result of a previous operation. It is causing a "bone on bone" effect in the joint, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Players have been known to play many years with that type of condition; it often becomes a pain-tolerance issue.

In Robertson's case, it has to be a concern because he is such a valuable player. The Jets traded two first-round picks and gave him $13million in bonuses, expecting him to become a dominant player.

"He worked really hard in the offseason, and he got frustrated because it was bothering him, so I set up an appointment to get a second opinion," Engelhard said. "That's all there is to it."

The Jets' medical staff prescribed rest, Engelhard said.

Robertson came to camp in the best shape of his career, reporting at his required weight of 315 pounds. A year ago, he was fined by the team for being 325, he revealed last week.

"When you're overweight, you can be quick, but you can't be quick all the time," said Robertson, who hopes to be in the 305 to 310 range by opening day. "The weight catches up with you and you start to wear down. I want to be quick every snap, not even think about getting tired."

After a disappointing rookie year, Robertson made significant strides last season, finishing with 60 tackles and 3-1/2 sacks. His development was one of the keys to the overall improvement of the defense.

Robertson, who predicted before last season that he was "ready to go out and dominate," expects more big things.

"I believe last year I did my thing and had a big year," he said. "There's always room for improvement. It's going to be even better."

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Surgery is not an option because surgery cannot IMPROVE his situation.

He has little or no cartilage. They cannot add cartilage. This is not an oil filter you replace.

Anytime I hear knee in any sentence concerning why a player missed practice, it chills my blood.

A 23 year old DT with no cartilage in his knee is an issue. How can it not be?

Chad's shoulder, Coles toe, Barton's knee, Law's foot and now Dewayne's knee.

WTF!?!

These guys, for the most part, are the best we have at each positon, save Barton and our season depends on them staying healthy.

I won't even get into Abraham.

We have alot to look forward to, but this season can fall apart just as easily. :cry:

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This is bad. The question is how bad is it? Depends on how long he's been playing with it and just how much cartilage is missing.

There are some options. Even if it's degenerative, there is micro fracture surgery, which, though extreme, has worked for a lot of guys.

He's pretty young for bone on bone. It's pretty strange.

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I got GreenWave from the JI board to chime in on DRob.....

Hope he doesn't mind my cut and paste...

Man, I was on call last night, and now I'm getting paged tonight too...

I'll put in my $0.02 here, but preface it by saying that it is all conjecture...educated conjecture, but conjecture nonetheless.

First, I highly doubt that the what, 22 y.o.?, DRob has no cartilege left in one of his knees.

The advent of knee arthroscopy in the late 70's/ early 80's introduced cartilage sparing operations as opposed to some (like me) that have had total menisectomies in the 70's...it's not done anymore.

Since being a Jet, I cannot remember DRob having ANY knee operations, and I am certain that the Jets checked DRob out six-ways 'til Sunday before being drafted...one of my good friends who is an orthopod used to be involved with checking out prospects while a fellow with the staff of the GB Packers, and the testing they put these guys through is very rigorous. No way DRob gets past the Jets staff with significant knee damage pre-draft without their knowing the extent. If he had prior knee surgery, I am sure they checked the operation reports, did x-rays, MRI's, clinical exams etc.

If it was a congenital problem (not with the cartilage itself but with the anatomical aspects) of the knee, that my hasten the loss of cartilage, but once again, I've got to believe that it would have been evident to observant medical staffs pre-draft.

The fact of the matter is that large human beings like DRob, that subject their bodies to the extremes of physical stress such as being a player in the NFL, are going to have an accelerated pattern of arthritis (cartilage loss) evidenced at an early age. I would bet that a lot, if not most, professional football players of DRob's size if they play even a modest NFL career will require a knee replacement proceedure between the age of 50-60 due to sheer wear and tear.

Since I am unaware that DRob has had multiple surgeries on his knee (whittling away at his knee cartilage) and I have seen no reports of congenital knee anatomic abnormalities, I have to believe that this report if you will is just some layman reporter trying to report on a medical condition that does not exist AS HE HAS WRITTEN IT.

Does DRob have a knee problem such as a cartilage tear, patellar-femoral syndrome, or a ligament injury? Perhaps, and Dr. Andrews will in all likelihood confirm or deny such after the visit....but for a professional football player, I would bet that the majority of them have an identifiable abnormality of the knee most of the time. The only question then becomes, when does it require intervention such as surgery? Obviously you would operate if playing on the injury would cause immediate or long-term damage to the joint or if the operation would hasten healing or improve stability...but there are a lot of 'knee syndromes' that would not be helped by knee surgery (such as most arthritis) and then it's up to the player to do conservative treatment measures (rest, ice, elevation etc) and see if he can play through the pain.

Bottom line, I wouldn't read too much into the reporter's description of DRob's knee...because in all likelihood he is ignorant of the medical knowledge to describe the injury and it's implications and reporters tend to more often than not to mis-state facts in relation to medical illnesses.

But this does not mean that DRob doesn't have a 'knee problem' either. I just doubt that the total loss of cartilage is it. I also believe that the information in this article can in no way be used to predict any implications about DRob's football career.

Does this make sense?

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