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A devastating knee injury brought an abrupt end to Cecil Shorts‘ 2016 season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last December.

Now seven months removed from the injury, Shorts had to have a third surgery to continue the process of rebuilding his injured knee.

The injury completely shredded Shorts’ right knee. He tore his ACL, MCL and PCL and sustained a dislocated knee cap all in an instant, which has led to an intensive recovery process.

Shorts hasn’t ruled out a return to playing in the NFL, but needed to wait through this surgery to determine whether it’s even possible.

“Once I get this last surgery, I’ll be training like I’m coming back to play and I’ll make a decision from there,” Shorts said in July on 1010 XL in Jacksonville. “I don’t want to rule it out, yet, but realistically it might be time to hang them up. We’ll see how it goes.”

Shorts caught 11 passes for 152 yards in nine games with the Buccaneers last season. He has appeared in 70 games with the Buccaneers, Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans in his six-year career. His best season came with Jacksonville in 2012 with 55 catches for 979 yards and seven touchdowns.