Analyzing a few of the more noteworthy injuries this week in Boston sports, Eduardo Nunez of the Red Sox, and Eric Rowe of the Patriots....
Red Sox infielder Eduardo Nunez practiced sliding in a more supportive right knee brace this week before traveling to Houston for the start the AL Division Series against the Astros, as he recovers from what has been reported as a right posterior cruciate ligament sprain. The injury occurred when Nunez slid awkwardly into second base on Sept. 9 and struck his right knee hard on the ground.
Isolated PCL injuries are rare and generally occur when the tibia (shin bone) is forced backward in relation to the knee. To give you an idea of what that means: we tend to see isolated PCL injuries in motor vehicle accidents when the upper shin strikes the dashboard forcefully.
Isolated PCL sprains can result in bone bruising in the knee and mild swelling and pain. Mild PCL sprains are treated with a brace, rest, and physical therapy, and athletes can usually return within one to four weeks. Nunez did, in fact, attempt to return on Sept. 25, but re-aggravated the injury as he pivoted on the knee during an at-bat. He missed the remainder of the regular season and the hope is that he will be ready to provide a badly-needed offensive spark in the playoffs.
Nunez’s progress in running bases, sliding, and taking at-bats is reassuring that he will be able to make the postseason roster. However, it is unclear if he will be able to help out with fielding or if he will be limited to the DH spot. I have not seen any reports of him fielding recently.
All reports point to this being an isolated mild PCL sprain. If that is true, I do not expect the infielder to have any long-term knee issues. However, if there are any other associated ligament injuries (the posterolateral corner is a possibility) or meniscal injuries or if the sprain is more significant and causing instability, he may have a hard time holding up in the playoffs and we could hear about surgery to address it in the off-season.
Eric Rowe injured his right groin as he attempted to take down Kelvin Benjamin during the third quarter of Sunday’s game against the Panthers. He did not return to the game. This appears to be a re-aggravation of a groin injury that occurred 2 1/2 weeks ago and caused him to miss the Week 3 match-up with the Texans.
Groin strains can be nagging injuries. Recovery is anywhere from one to six weeks. Given that this is a re-injury, I expect that the cornerback will miss some time. Reports from the locker room are that he has been moving quite gingerly. He's been ruled out this week, and he may even miss more time depending on the severity of the injury.
When a groin injury continues to recur despite adequate rest, it is sometimes called a sports hernia. This is a heterogeneous term that refers to overuse injury to the lower core muscles near where they insert in the pelvis. The muscles include the hip adductors (groin muscles) and the oblique muscles in the lower abdomen. Athletes particularly at risk include skill position players like receivers and cornerbacks who rely on quick, twisting movements of the hips and low core for rapid change of direction. Some athletes just cannot get back to the field without recurrent injuries and in those cases, surgery is considered. At this point, Rowe seems to be dealing with a groin strain, which as we all know is very common. It’s way too early to know if this will be a chronic issue.
Interesting note about sports hernias: Tom Brady dealt with a painful sports hernia during the 2005 season. News broke in Feb. 2006 he would require sports hernia surgery during the off-season. Interestingly, Brady addressed this in his recently released book, "The TB12 Method".
“Nine years ago, I strained my right groin tendon (a very common football injury). One of the doctors I consulted recommended surgery, saying there was a 99 percent chance the strain would bother me during the entire season. ... After weighing my options, I decided to work on it differently — through pliability training over the next three weeks. ... In the 11 years since, I’ve never had another right groin problem.”
It turns out Brady never did have sports hernia surgery after all.