As expected, Sam Bradford has been placed on injured reserve following his Tuesday knee surgery.

Our initial post at 5:55 a.m. PT:

Hours after our article indicating a bad outlook for Sam Bradford, came news the Vikings quarterback did, indeed, had surgery on his knee.

Now we are just waiting for the second part to come true – the decision to put him on IR.


Surgery was reported as a “clean up.” The surgery consisted of removing “several loose particles”, cleaning up “some ragged cartilage” and smoothing out “a bone spur.”

This was not a simple knee scope with meniscus trim. Expect post-operative bleeding and swelling to occur. Whenever bone is resected, there are exposed bleeding bone surfaces, and this delays the ultimate recovery.

A perfect outcome would mean a minimum of 4-6 weeks recovery, which is why Bradford will end up on IR when the Vikings need the roster space. (His 2017 season is over. Sure, he could return after 8 weeks, but there are only eight weeks remaining in the regular season. If the Vikings are in the playoffs, it means they got at least decent play from Case Keenum and/or Teddy Bridgewater.)

This also portends a worse outcome for Bradford long-term. Either the articular cartilage (tread on the tires) was already wearing out from the trauma of two ACL tears, indicating a chronic downward spiral, or the articular damage is fresh as a result of the bone bruise.


It was likely a combination of both, indicating an acute injury on top of chronic injury. Certainly, the bone spur had to have been forming before Bradford’s Week 1 injury. Bone spurs don’t grow in a matter of two months.

We earlier described the non-contact bone bruise as an elephant stomping on a football field with the damage to the dirt (bone bruise) leading to later death at the grass surface (articular cartilage).

We began to worry about this intra articular damage after we learned of the knee injections Bradford had sought. We indicated there is no injection for a bone bruise, which is below the joint, but only for the joint itself. Add that to the “wear and tear” comments from the Vikings head athletic trainer, and this development was predictable.

We suggested the best-case scenario was for Bradford to come back at Week 10 after the bye. Now the news has gotten worse.The spin is the knee was just cleaned up and no major damage found. Of course, the main way such news can legally come out so quickly on the day of surgery is through Bradford’s camp or through permission from the athlete.


If, indeed, the procedure were that simple, the Vikings would not consider putting Bradford on IR. A simple clean-up (not true due to of the bone spur work) could have him back in 2-3 weeks.

Not knowing for sure Bridgewater’s status yet, a team would likely keep active a QB who completed 84 percent of his passes for 346 yds and three touchdowns in his last full game. Give the type of surgery, that is not the case.

The only good news is this is not directly related to the stability of his knee and the two ACL surgeries but it is likely indirectly related to the cumulative trauma of the previous and new injuries.

Putting this together, Bradford had a knee that was on a downward spiral that was accelerated by the bone bruise.


At this point, I cannot say that his career is over, but certainly his longevity in the NFL and potentially his mobility may be affected.

UPDATES:

This story was updated at 8:53 a.m. PT to reflect the new Bradford was placed on IR.