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Posted June 24, 2007
Once healthy, No. 1 pick should be fine, but expert warns recovery from biceps surgery can take more than a year
By Tom Pelissero
tpelisse@greenbaypressgazette.com
Compared to the leg and ankle injuries that cost Justin Harrell parts of two college seasons, the ruptured biceps tendon he sustained in September was, in his word, "nothing."
Fellow Green Bay Packers rookie Larry Birdine didn't have the luxury of comparison.
"I was mad," said Birdine, an undrafted end who sustained a nearly identical injury in preseason practice two years ago. "I wish I could have broke a bone or something. Then you're out six weeks and you just come back, as opposed to tearing your tendon. It's basically the equivalent or tearing your ACL in your knee."
Birdine recovered from surgery quickly enough to play for Oklahoma in the Holiday Bowl less than five months after his injury, though he admits he only had 50 percent strength in his left arm.
Harrell, a first-round pick out of Tennessee, has had almost twice as long to recover. Yet, he sat out all team portions of Green Bay's offseason practices and isn't expected to be cleared for contact until early next month.
Packers coaches point out evaluation is difficult until players put on pads in training camp. However, there is a possibility Harrell, no matter how good he feels, will not be at full strength when training camp opens July 28 — or perhaps anytime this season.
According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, patients generally are prohibited from "forceful biceps activity" for four to six months after surgery. Rebuilding the muscle to its pre-surgery size and strength can take much longer.
"The muscle recovery is gradual," said Dr. Randall Mohler, a surgeon who specializes in sports medicine at the California Orthopaedic Institute.
"(It takes) a year to even a year-and-a-half before muscles will feel fully recovered, and (sustained strength) is one of the last things to come back. Even when someone is in the weight room and says, 'This feels 100 percent,' they'll notice it fatigues faster."
Harrell says there was no contact on the play that in essence ended his college career. He swung his left arm in the direction of an Air Force ball-carrier and felt a pop as the tendon separated from the bone at his elbow — what doctors call a distal tear. Unlike proximal tears, which occur at the shoulder and account for more than 90 percent of all biceps ruptures, distal tears almost always are repaired surgically because the biceps can't function without that connection.
With no risk of further injury, Harrell played the next week against Florida with padding from just below his shoulder to the middle of his forearm. He knew it would be his last game — doctors encourage fixing the injury before the tendon retracts too far into the arm — and Tennessee team doctors Greg Mathien and Robert Ivy performed the surgery two days later, on Sept. 18.
Harrell spent a couple of weeks in a sling, then began rehabilitation to rebuild the shrunken muscle and regain his range of motion. Roughly six months after surgery, he impressed scouts at his campus workout by bench-pressing 500 pounds — best among the four defensive tackles drafted in the first two rounds. But the Packers' medical staff has proceeded with understandable caution.
"If I had to go out and perform, I would feel confident in my arm and going out there and doing things with it," Harrell said in a phone call last week. "It's just something that's going to take a little bit longer, a little process to get it back up."
The process will begin in earnest in training camp, when Harrell is expected to compete with Corey Williams for a starting job opposite veteran Ryan Pickett.
"In the classroom, the guy's good," defensive tackles coach Robert Nunn said, declining to reveal where on the depth chart the rookie will start. "He's getting a little antsy, wanting to go ahead and test it, but until (team doctors) give us clearance, I don't have anything to do with it."
At 6-foot-4, Harrell matches Williams as the Packers' tallest defensive tackle, and he's bulked up from 300 pounds in college to between 310 and 315. Harrell's presence will increase competition in a group that includes Colin Cole and Johnny Jolly, provided he's healthy.
Spending time on the sideline during minicamp and OTAs gave Harrell an opportunity to learn the Packers' scheme — a significant departure from the attacking, read-on-the-run defense he played at Tennessee — from the outside. He spent much of his time getting pointers from end Aaron Kampman, who is recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery.
"I'm glad the OTAs are over," Harrell said. "It was a good period for me to pretty much get the whole grasp of the defense, and I think I got a pretty good idea. Now, I'm just ready to take another step."
"The good news for him is that these almost never will re-rupture out after the recovery period," Mohler said. "(Doctors are) nervous right after surgery, because we don't want someone to have to go back to surgery or go through a surgery that doesn't help them out. But now that he's had nine months of recovery, his chance of re-rupturing this should be almost down to zero."
All Harrell has to show for the injury is a small scar on the inside of his arm, below the elbow. He says he isn't concerned about any mental hurdles when he returns to contact drills, because he played with the tendon torn against Florida.
Birdine didn't have the luxury of that comparison, either. But he guarantees Harrell won't make his first tackle without a little hesitation.
"You really don't want to go in there and do the same thing that you did that you hurt yourself," Birdine said. "But, they tell you that the chance of your tearing it again is pretty much like being struck by lightning."
Once healthy, No. 1 pick should be fine, but expert warns recovery from biceps surgery can take more than a year
By Tom Pelissero
tpelisse@greenbaypressgazette.com
Compared to the leg and ankle injuries that cost Justin Harrell parts of two college seasons, the ruptured biceps tendon he sustained in September was, in his word, "nothing."
Fellow Green Bay Packers rookie Larry Birdine didn't have the luxury of comparison.
"I was mad," said Birdine, an undrafted end who sustained a nearly identical injury in preseason practice two years ago. "I wish I could have broke a bone or something. Then you're out six weeks and you just come back, as opposed to tearing your tendon. It's basically the equivalent or tearing your ACL in your knee."
Birdine recovered from surgery quickly enough to play for Oklahoma in the Holiday Bowl less than five months after his injury, though he admits he only had 50 percent strength in his left arm.
Harrell, a first-round pick out of Tennessee, has had almost twice as long to recover. Yet, he sat out all team portions of Green Bay's offseason practices and isn't expected to be cleared for contact until early next month.
Packers coaches point out evaluation is difficult until players put on pads in training camp. However, there is a possibility Harrell, no matter how good he feels, will not be at full strength when training camp opens July 28 — or perhaps anytime this season.
According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, patients generally are prohibited from "forceful biceps activity" for four to six months after surgery. Rebuilding the muscle to its pre-surgery size and strength can take much longer.
"The muscle recovery is gradual," said Dr. Randall Mohler, a surgeon who specializes in sports medicine at the California Orthopaedic Institute.
"(It takes) a year to even a year-and-a-half before muscles will feel fully recovered, and (sustained strength) is one of the last things to come back. Even when someone is in the weight room and says, 'This feels 100 percent,' they'll notice it fatigues faster."
Harrell says there was no contact on the play that in essence ended his college career. He swung his left arm in the direction of an Air Force ball-carrier and felt a pop as the tendon separated from the bone at his elbow — what doctors call a distal tear. Unlike proximal tears, which occur at the shoulder and account for more than 90 percent of all biceps ruptures, distal tears almost always are repaired surgically because the biceps can't function without that connection.
With no risk of further injury, Harrell played the next week against Florida with padding from just below his shoulder to the middle of his forearm. He knew it would be his last game — doctors encourage fixing the injury before the tendon retracts too far into the arm — and Tennessee team doctors Greg Mathien and Robert Ivy performed the surgery two days later, on Sept. 18.
Harrell spent a couple of weeks in a sling, then began rehabilitation to rebuild the shrunken muscle and regain his range of motion. Roughly six months after surgery, he impressed scouts at his campus workout by bench-pressing 500 pounds — best among the four defensive tackles drafted in the first two rounds. But the Packers' medical staff has proceeded with understandable caution.
"If I had to go out and perform, I would feel confident in my arm and going out there and doing things with it," Harrell said in a phone call last week. "It's just something that's going to take a little bit longer, a little process to get it back up."
The process will begin in earnest in training camp, when Harrell is expected to compete with Corey Williams for a starting job opposite veteran Ryan Pickett.
"In the classroom, the guy's good," defensive tackles coach Robert Nunn said, declining to reveal where on the depth chart the rookie will start. "He's getting a little antsy, wanting to go ahead and test it, but until (team doctors) give us clearance, I don't have anything to do with it."
At 6-foot-4, Harrell matches Williams as the Packers' tallest defensive tackle, and he's bulked up from 300 pounds in college to between 310 and 315. Harrell's presence will increase competition in a group that includes Colin Cole and Johnny Jolly, provided he's healthy.
Spending time on the sideline during minicamp and OTAs gave Harrell an opportunity to learn the Packers' scheme — a significant departure from the attacking, read-on-the-run defense he played at Tennessee — from the outside. He spent much of his time getting pointers from end Aaron Kampman, who is recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery.
"I'm glad the OTAs are over," Harrell said. "It was a good period for me to pretty much get the whole grasp of the defense, and I think I got a pretty good idea. Now, I'm just ready to take another step."
"The good news for him is that these almost never will re-rupture out after the recovery period," Mohler said. "(Doctors are) nervous right after surgery, because we don't want someone to have to go back to surgery or go through a surgery that doesn't help them out. But now that he's had nine months of recovery, his chance of re-rupturing this should be almost down to zero."
All Harrell has to show for the injury is a small scar on the inside of his arm, below the elbow. He says he isn't concerned about any mental hurdles when he returns to contact drills, because he played with the tendon torn against Florida.
Birdine didn't have the luxury of that comparison, either. But he guarantees Harrell won't make his first tackle without a little hesitation.
"You really don't want to go in there and do the same thing that you did that you hurt yourself," Birdine said. "But, they tell you that the chance of your tearing it again is pretty much like being struck by lightning."
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