Cushing - Broken Fibula, Torn LCL

[Keith]

per Albert Breer tweet. Three months recovery. Seems the rest of the knee isn't injured, just the LCL and the broken fibula.

Jamaal Charles hit him low with a legal block. Same knee Cushing injured a year ago against the Jets with a somewhat more questionable block.

[Arky]

Originally Posted by Keith

per Albert Breer tweet. Three months recovery. Seems the rest of the knee isn't injured, just the LCL and the broken fibula.

Jamaal Charles hit him low with a legal block. Same knee Cushing injured a year ago against the Jets with a somewhat more questionable block.

A "legal" block is the correct term, IMO. Calling it a "clean hit" is an incorrect term because there is nothing "clean" about a hit that causes injury..... JMHO...

[HPF Bob]

Running backs always go low on blitzing defenders because generally they are outweighed and don't want to get their own meal tickets damaged while trying to block.

The Jet player hit Cushing from behind. The Charles block was from in front and is probably something Cushing has encountered many times. Just a problem of the helmet hitting at just the wrong spot with just the wrong force applied. I doubt the injury was anything intentional or purposeful. Charles had to sit out all last year with knee surgery so he should know.

[Arky]

Travis Johnson brought up something last night on 610.... He said, if you go to the 14:03 mark of the 2nd quarter, you will see Cushing literally running over Charles and forcing Alex Smith to throw inc. Charles had tried to block Cushing high. Apparently, the strategy on how to block the oncoming freight train changed at that point.....

Later on, Charles goes low and just like last year, Cushing has his foot planted at precisely the wrong time....

[nunusguy]

Three weeks to the day after knee surgery, Brian Cushing was out and about in Pearland. The Texans linebacker was taking part in a community event with First Community Credit Union at Glenda Dawson High School. Even though he was on crutches, he was very optimistic about returning to work early in 2014.
"I think January, February, I'll be a hundred percent," Cushing said. "This is quite a different deal than last year."
Cushing tore the lateral cruciate ligament (LCL) and fractured the fibula in his left leg in the loss at Kansas City in Week 7. In Week 5 of 2012, he suffered a torn ACL in a win over the New York Jets. He detailed how his rehab is progressing.
"It's going really well," Cushing said. "Obviously, I had a pretty significant injury last year, too. I just feel like this is a lot less serious, and healing much faster. So that's a good sign."
Cushing said he will be off crutches in two weeks, and that the rehab is "going a lot more smoothly" than what he went through last year. Because he's on crutches, and has limited mobility, he can't watch Texans games from the sidelines yet. He also spoke about what the team is doing to get back in the win column.
"Everyone in that building knows that and the guys are striving and trying everything to really figure it out," Cushing said. "From the coaching staff, to the players, to everyone in there, they're scratching their head. But one thing I know is that they're working and they're going to continue to try to improve that."

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/ar...c-555010c3bd74

[HPF Bob]

A torn ACL is a more serious injury than an LCL. Plus broken bones heal. If it was a simple fracture, not a compound fracture, that shouldn't be too bad a problem. Last year's rehab was probably worse.

[nunusguy]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis says tearing the ACL in his right knee three times in three seasons hasn't slowed him down.

And the numbers back him up.

Davis was named the NFC's defensive player of the week after his nine-tackle, two-sack performance in Carolina's 35-10 win over the Minnesota Vikings last Sunday.

The 30-year-old Davis said the award served as consolation after missing out on being named the 2012 AP Comeback Player of the Year last season — an award he felt he should have been in the running for.

"Without a doubt," Davis said. "Just knowing the work that I had to put in to get back to this point, when a lot of people thought it was over for me, when a lot of people told me I should retire. ... To have a day like Sunday meant a lot to me."
Davis became the first known player in NFL history to tear the ACL in his same knee three times and return to play in the league. He did so at a high level, finishing second on the Panthers in tackles in 2012 behind middle linebacker Luke Kuechly, the NFL's leading tackler last season.

Peyton Manning overcame neck surgery to have a spectacular season for the Broncos and beat out Vikings running Adrian Peterson, who returned from a torn ACL to rush 2,000 yards, to win AP Comeback Player of the Year.

Davis didn't receive a vote.

"It was definitely disappointing," Davis said. "I felt like I had put a lot of work to get back to that point. ... Granted, the guys that actually were up for it, they were also in the running for the MVP of this league last year.

"Just knowing what I had to go through, what I had to overcome, I feel I definitely should have been in the running."

Rivera agrees.
"There were two other very good candidates," Rivera said. "It just went to somebody else. But to me, Thomas epitomizes comeback, and those are the kind of people you pull for."

Davis first tore his ACL midway through the 2009 season when his foot got caught in the turf at the Louisiana Superdome. It was his first of three surgeries in three seasons and endless hours of grueling rehabilitation.

He tore it again the following spring while back peddling during minicamp and then again in the second game of the 2011 season.

The third injury left Davis contemplating retirement for about 24 hours.

But after meeting with Panthers owner Jerry Richardson, former general manager Marty Hurney and trainer Ryan Vermillion, Davis decided to give it one more shot.
He took a major pay cut and returned to the Panthers for a ninth season.

"I thought once I did it a third time, I thought that was it," Davis said. "I had never heard of a guy coming back or even attempting to come back from a third ACL (tear) to the same knee. That went through my head. A lot of stuff went through my head."

Davis, 30, is glad he returned.

He's playing perhaps his best football of his career and defensive coordinator Sean McDermott said Davis' vast knowledge of the defense has propelled him to new heights.

"He's always learning," McDermott said.

Panthers quarterback Cam Newton said he has immense respect for Davis.

"Just going through everything that he's been through, it's just a credit to who he is as a person and a player," Newton said. "A guy that works his tail off day in and day out, and leads as best as I've ever seen."

http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2013/1...-to-same-knee/
*******
While watching last nights Panthers-Pats game on MNF heard this guys story, thought about Cushing, and then googled the Panthers player for a comparison to Brian's situation.
I remember this guy when he came out of college and got drafted and his story is remarkable and offers hope and encouragement for where Cushing is at this point in his own career.