Expert: Andy Dalton's thumb likely a 4-week recovery in best-case scenario

A.J. Perez | USA TODAY Sports

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Andy Dalton is scheduled to see a hand specialist Monday, a physician that could very well tell the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback that his season is over.

The specifics of Dalton’s fractured right thumb on his throwing hand — injured while making a tackle on an interception return on Sunday — haven’t been released, although a sports orthopedic surgeon who deals specifically with hand and wrist injuries told USA TODAY Sports that a four-week recovery period is likely the best-case scenario.

“If it’s a fracture that affects the stability of the joint, it could me much more involved,” said Matthew Koepplinger, a hand surgeon at the Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Sports Medicine Institute in Houston. “Regardless, if there’s a fracture and it’s displaced, you’re usually better off fixing the insatiability.”

Koepplinger said inserting plates or screws into the thumb can speed recovery by a couple weeks. A bone stimulator, a device that employs electrical, electromagnetic or ultrasound, is also often used.

Koepplinger said he’s had athletes come back from a fractured thumb “in some simpler cases” in as little of three weeks, but he added they weren’t elite-level quarterbacks who had to grip and throw a football with the damaged digit.

Mark Adickes, an orthopedic surgeon and former NFL offensive lineman, told USA TODAY Sports that the demands on thumb of the throwing hand is “the” issue.

“Andy Dalton has to return with strength in his right hand with manageable pain to be able to perform,” said Adickes, a medical expert for ESPN. “This makes a return in four weeks for the playoffs possible, but unlikely.”

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