Weeks after seeing their first-round pick, defensive end L.J. Collier, carted off the practice field with an ankle sprain, the Seahawks have been dealt another injury blow – and potentially two – to their 2019 draft class. The Seahawks returned to practice last week, and did so missing their easiest to spot on the practice field number 14, DK Metcalf. Not everyone will be available this week, and that includes the rookie receiver DK Metcalf, who had what Carroll called “a minimal surgery” on his knee last week.
When a coach or GM says minimal what they are typically referring to is minimally invasive, which typically indicates arthroscopic surgery and a very small amount of work done. No formal explanation has been given, but left to speculate it was most likely a meniscus cleanup with a little PRP.
During his presser Carol stated, “It was a minimal surgery, minimal findings, so we have high expectations.” He added, “We’ll go week to week with it and see how he does. We really don’t have any concern that he won’t get back soon. So we’re excited that we got it done. It was the kind of deal we could have put off and waited, but we thought we would use the timeframe we had available and hopefully it’ll work out just right for us.”
Prior to the surgery, Carroll had said Sunday that there was hope that Metcalf could be back for the start of the regular season. Asked if that was still the case, Carroll said, “We’re going to go week to week and see what happens. There’s no indication that it’s going to be a long return. It’s going to be a shorter return than a longer one. So we’ll see how we can deal with this, and keep our fingers crossed for him.”
As you return from even a simple meniscus surgery volume and “load management” become increasingly important. If you overload the recently traumatized tissue to quickly or with too much impact it can swell and begin to shut off responsiveness to the surrounding musculature. You must dose the workouts appropriately to allow for prevention of muscle atrophy (shrkinking) and in best case scenario a little hypertrophy (muscle growth) without bringing on soreness and swelling.
Metcalf has been a highlight of Seattle’s offseason training. Even though he wasn’t Seattle’s top pick, the 6-foot-3, 229-pound Ole Miss standout has generated the most fanfare of any rookie and has looked the part of a starter with several impressive receptions through training camp.
DK was a specimen at this year’s NFL scouting combine, but injury concerns likely contributed to Metcalf’s slide into the second round. The Seahawks selected him 64th overall. But despite his injury history, Metcalf remained healthy through the full offseason and most of training camp. His two injuries (knee and oblique) have come within only the last three weeks.