After weeks of being limited in practice and visibly struggling on the field, Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman missed practice Thursday morning to have a procedure on his ailing left knee.
https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1321862930565156864?s=20
Edelman has been dealing with this knee issue for a while. At times late last season, he appeared to be in tremendous pain after every play. He fought through his symptoms for months, but eventually had off-season surgery to address a “loose body” in the joint.
A “loose body” is a small piece of bone or cartilage floating in the knee that can end up getting stuck in the wrong spot, causing pain, stiffness, and swelling. Loose bodies are often associated with arthritis and arthritis is common after traumatic injuries to the joint. Here is what Edelman said about his injury history (including the left knee) when he was featured in ESPN’s 2017 Body Issue:
I've broken both of my feet. I broke my forearm -- my radius one time and then my ulna, so I have two scars from that. I had labrum surgery on my right labrum when I was in college. I broke my jaw. I messed up my left knee a little bit back in the day. I tore my PCL. I've had hernia surgeries. I had adductor release surgery early in my career, so I had to get those ripped up, so I had bilateral hernia and groin issues going.
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