How is RGIII?

[cphil006]

First post here, so GO SKINS!!! And hello all.

I find most of the info I needed about the ACL stuff. One thing I am confused about is if they take the Patellar tendon from the other knee since they already took some of that tendon from the 09 surgery.... So does that Patellar tendon grow back?? It seems if they are ripping stuff out then it would weaken that section for the donor area obviously. I may need a few drinks during the games next year, might be a little freaked out for RG3. Will feel more comfy after he makes it through the whole 16 games next year and we win the super bowl!!

Man looking at the ACL stuff made me freaking light headed, had to get a water. I truly hope he is okay and has an injury free rest of his career so he never does any long term damage. Those borrowed tendons are scary to me, be nice if they had synthetic stuff these days.
EDIT: I just read the Patellar tendon does indeed grow back, but it takes a couple years. I guess the human body can spare them and he can still be good while those grow back.

Welcome to the messageboard. You've posted in one of the fastest growing non-game day threads. Any and all RG3 rehab info here.
Good info on the patellar tendons. Didn't realize they grow back. Good news, hopefully he doesn't need a new one before that happens. I also just found out the bones used to Graft to the others fuse together like a bone break

[SWFLSkins]

There seems to be a lot being made of the 2009 surgery having been somehow subpar. I was in te stands in Waco back in 2009 when Griffin went down versus Northwestern State. As someone who saw Griffin before and after the surgery, there's no comparison. He was good before, but he came back a great player afterwards. Former Redskin and Baylor player, Dr. Mark Adickes performed the original surgery. He's thought to be among the very best orthopods in Texas. Google him and you'll find his work and sports clientele to be impressive. This isnt some community hospital hack.

All that you all have fallen in love with was done on that surgically repaired knee. Hell, he won the Heisman on it. Let's face it though, his knee has seen a lot of combat since 2009. I'm not sure Andrews or anyone else on Earth could have rebuilt it to survive the past three years of abuse.

Just a little perspective from someone who watched closely as RG3 went through this before.

One post, and from Texas?
Is this thr doctor himself or friend? Hmmm kinda fishy to me

I thought the post was very informative and from a fresh perspective. The original surgery was done in '09 and Robert has played great since then so it could not have been a hack job. It is the wear and tear, the advancement in procedures that effect this surgery now. The two are not comparable and what is fishy is the mere mention that the first job was a hack job. It was a simpler repair most likely at the time and it appears that both times major reconstruction was not necessary.

And yes there are good ortho's out there other than Dr. Andrews, though he is thought to be one of the best, I don't know why he was so wishy washy on Robert playing or giving the okay to play.

[WacoDiesel]

I am from Texas, I have a daughter that I named "Landry" in part because of my love for the Dallas Cowboys. I think you'll be interested to find out though that I am a bigger Baylor fan than Cowboys fan and, as a result, my allegiances have shifted to the Redskins and to rooting on RG3. There's a lot of us in my boat, believe it or not. It's been a heart-wrenching thing to do in changing sides, but we think that much of RG3. If you had told me this time last year that I'd be totally sold out for the Skins and have my kid wearing Skins apparel, I'd have called you a fool. It's been fun though!

And no, I don't know Adickes. Never met him once. I just thought my perspective, as someone who saw him before the injury, saw him get injured, saw him rehab and then saw him come out stronger on the other side, might be of some value. HTTR!

[757SeanTaylor21]

^^i don't even know what to say...kind of made me sick

[zskins]

There seems to be a lot being made of the 2009 surgery having been somehow subpar. I was in te stands in Waco back in 2009 when Griffin went down versus Northwestern State. As someone who saw Griffin before and after the surgery, there's no comparison. He was good before, but he came back a great player afterwards. Former Redskin and Baylor player, Dr. Mark Adickes performed the original surgery. He's thought to be among the very best orthopods in Texas. Google him and you'll find his work and sports clientele to be impressive. This isnt some community hospital hack.

All that you all have fallen in love with was done on that surgically repaired knee. Hell, he won the Heisman on it. Let's face it though, his knee has seen a lot of combat since 2009. I'm not sure Andrews or anyone else on Earth could have rebuilt it to survive the past three years of abuse.

Just a little perspective from someone who watched closely as RG3 went through this before.

Dr. Andrews has 18 more years experience than Adickes and is very smart. Advantage: Dr. Andrews.

[WacoDiesel]

Yeah, I'm not advocating for Adickes to have performed yesterday's surgery. I'm just saying that I don't think 2009 was a foul job.

[Skinsfan In NM]

He will play in the pro bowl!

In 2014

No actually he won't. That is our first year of 4 straight super bowl wins.

---------- Post added January-10th-2013 at 07:15 AM ----------

I am from Texas, I have a daughter that I named "Landry" in part because of my love for the Dallas Cowboys. I think you'll be interested to find out though that I am a bigger Baylor fan than Cowboys fan and, as a result, my allegiances have shifted to the Redskins and to rooting on RG3. There's a lot of us in my boat, believe it or not. It's been a heart-wrenching thing to do in changing sides, but we think that much of RG3. If you had told me this time last year that I'd be totally sold out for the Skins and have my kid wearing Skins apparel, I'd have called you a fool. It's been fun though!

And no, I don't know Adickes. Never met him once. I just thought my perspective, as someone who saw him before the injury, saw him get injured, saw him rehab and then saw him come out stronger on the other side, might be of some value. HTTR!

Well let me welcome you out of the dark and onto the side of light.

[Boss_Hogg]

I am from Texas, I have a daughter that I named "Landry" in part because of my love for the Dallas Cowboys. I think you'll be interested to find out though that I am a bigger Baylor fan than Cowboys fan and, as a result, my allegiances have shifted to the Redskins and to rooting on RG3. There's a lot of us in my boat, believe it or not. It's been a heart-wrenching thing to do in changing sides, but we think that much of RG3. If you had told me this time last year that I'd be totally sold out for the Skins and have my kid wearing Skins apparel, I'd have called you a fool. It's been fun though!

And no, I don't know Adickes. Never met him once. I just thought my perspective, as someone who saw him before the injury, saw him get injured, saw him rehab and then saw him come out stronger on the other side, might be of some value. HTTR!

We need to exorcise the demons out of you before you can continue posting.

[JMUSkins]

I am from Texas, I have a daughter that I named "Landry" in part because of my love for the Dallas Cowboys. I think you'll be interested to find out though that I am a bigger Baylor fan than Cowboys fan and, as a result, my allegiances have shifted to the Redskins and to rooting on RG3. There's a lot of us in my boat, believe it or not. It's been a heart-wrenching thing to do in changing sides, but we think that much of RG3. If you had told me this time last year that I'd be totally sold out for the Skins and have my kid wearing Skins apparel, I'd have called you a fool. It's been fun though!

And no, I don't know Adickes. Never met him once. I just thought my perspective, as someone who saw him before the injury, saw him get injured, saw him rehab and then saw him come out stronger on the other side, might be of some value. HTTR!

I'm very suspicious of you. What's to say you won't turn your back on the Skins if the Cowboys start winning? Sounds like pure bandwagon garbage, to be honest.

[Diss]

I am from Texas, I have a daughter that I named "Landry" in part because of my love for the Dallas Cowboys. I think you'll be interested to find out though that I am a bigger Baylor fan than Cowboys fan and, as a result, my allegiances have shifted to the Redskins and to rooting on RG3.

Change your daughter's name to "Theismeena" and we'll know we can trust you.

Also acceptable:
1. Portisa
2. Rigginsina
3. Monkalia
4. Gibbsaria

[ZRagone]

I am from Texas, I have a daughter that I named "Landry" in part because of my love for the Dallas Cowboys. I think you'll be interested to find out though that I am a bigger Baylor fan than Cowboys fan and, as a result, my allegiances have shifted to the Redskins and to rooting on RG3. There's a lot of us in my boat, believe it or not. It's been a heart-wrenching thing to do in changing sides, but we think that much of RG3. If you had told me this time last year that I'd be totally sold out for the Skins and have my kid wearing Skins apparel, I'd have called you a fool. It's been fun though!

And no, I don't know Adickes. Never met him once. I just thought my perspective, as someone who saw him before the injury, saw him get injured, saw him rehab and then saw him come out stronger on the other side, might be of some value. HTTR!

I don't think the previous work was bad, nor do I think the doctor was bad.

But I think it's akin to watching a really good college basketball player and then watching someone like Michael Jordan (or if you want modern, Kobe or LeBron). That College kids game is great and exceptional at his level, but comparing it to the best of the best at the highest level it likely looks a bit average.

Adickes is one of the best in Texas. Andrews is widely considered the best in the World. I think it was a case where it wasn't that what was done was bad, but rather it simply wasn't on the "elite" level of quality that Andrews can give and RG3 warrants.

---------- Post added January-10th-2013 at 10:19 AM ----------

I am from Texas, I have a daughter that I named "Landry" in part because of my love for the Dallas Cowboys. I think you'll be interested to find out though that I am a bigger Baylor fan than Cowboys fan and, as a result, my allegiances have shifted to the Redskins and to rooting on RG3. There's a lot of us in my boat, believe it or not. It's been a heart-wrenching thing to do in changing sides, but we think that much of RG3. If you had told me this time last year that I'd be totally sold out for the Skins and have my kid wearing Skins apparel, I'd have called you a fool. It's been fun though!

And no, I don't know Adickes. Never met him once. I just thought my perspective, as someone who saw him before the injury, saw him get injured, saw him rehab and then saw him come out stronger on the other side, might be of some value. HTTR!

Also, ignore the others who are overly protective and don't quite understand the notion of new fans coming to a team. We've experienced that heavily here in DC with the Capitals and "true" fans hating those evil "bandwagon" people who help make the arena so loud and interest so high that the team actually gets talked about

Welcome to the wagon, hope you and our QB are on it for a good long time. You may've not bled Burgundy and Gold your whole life...but I would be surprised that by the time Robert's done if it's not got you hooked for life

[da#1skinsfan]

Is this a joke? Come on people. The guy comes on and gives a very fair assessment based on experience (and not EXTREEEEEEEEME jumping to conclusions like most here) and then he gets ridiculed for it. Not to mention people here are defending and comparing Doctors who probably 1/100th of a percentage of people on this forum are even remotely qualified to speak about. "Rah rah Andrews, he's our guy, everyone else sucks!"

WacoD - not all Skins fans are this annoying. Welcome to the team and thanks for the info.

[posse87]

I am sure RG3 got the best, most technically sound ACL repair available. An interesting point I saw one of the doctors make is that plasma rich protein (PRP) stem cell injections is a part of the post operative rehab therapy. PRP stem cells are not as good as embryonic stem cells. Unfortunately stem cell research in this country is limited by legislation, thereby limiting the quality of stem cells available in the US. Europe has the best stem cell lines and therefore the best quality stem cells for tissue regeneration.....ie Manning, Kobe, A Rod and other high profile atheletes going to europe for stem cell injections. I hope they at least look into using the very best stem cells in his postoperative recovery despite the major inconvenience. I also wonder about the role of injection of haluronic acid products to cusion and protect the joint during the healing/rehab period. I remember Haynesworth had gotten haluronic acid injections to protect his knees. I wonder how much outside the box thinking will be going into RG3 treatments?

[WacoDiesel]

We need to exorcise the demons out of you before you can continue posting.

I hear you, Boss_Hogg. As I told a welcoming member via PM, I probably didn't do myself a lot of favors with my first few posts. I am who I am though and hope I'll be welcomed to keep rooting on the Skins.

In an effort to endear myself to you all further, I'll tell a little 2009 RG3 rehab story that I think you'll appreciate:

Robert went down in the 3rd game of our season that year against Northwestern State. With approx 10 minutes left in the 2nd quarter, Griffin took the first snap of our drive and optioned right. He got outside the tackle box and made the decision to keep. At that same moment, a Northwestern State defender sealed the corner and RG3 tried to cut up field and avoid the hit. He was unsuccessful, took the hit, which bent his body backwards and he fumbled the ball. Griffin lay on the Floyd Casey Stadium turf for a good while before being helped off the field. After being examined on the sidelines, Griffin was sent back out on the field and played out the rest of the half with a torn ACL. In doing so, he led the team to two more TD's and a 41-10 halftime lead before exiting for good.

One quesiton that might occur to you is "why would he ever be sent back out with a torn ACL?" Long story short, Griffin's knees naturally make it difficult to evaluate their stability. One of my good friends is a team doc at Baylor and speaks of Griffin having very "loose" knees to begin with. You may have felt a baby's knees before and noticed how much movement there is inside. The knees practically float. As we get older and more mature, they float less and become very stable. Not the case with RG3. His knees have always been very loose and it made evaluating his condition on the sidelines, during that game, very tough. I'm sure Dr. Andrews struggled with the same thing this season in trying to make in-game suggestions to team personnel. My friend would tell you that RG3's knees were a constant source of worry at Baylor. That doesn't mean that injury was constantly expected, but it meant that this "looseness" was always in the back of the minds of the docs.

I'm attaching a video below of a news story that ran here locally towards the end of RG3's rehab process. You can see how hard he was working here. The best story I heard about his rehab, and I think it tells a lot about the man is that during games at Floyd Casey Stadium, later that season, Robert and his dad could be found rehabbing in the weight room. During. The. Game. It hurt him so badly to not be out there that he couldn't watch. He needed to work out and get healthy so that he could get back out there. What resulted from RG3's rehab back then was a much better passer. During the time when he couldn't run, Robert and his dad would throw in the parking lot, weight room, wherever, while sitting in chairs. This made his arm tremendously more strong than it had been. In my opinion, the time he spent working on his arm, while he couldn't run, was the most valuable time he spent doing anything while at Baylor. This is when we all saw the tremendous development in his arm strength, as well as accuracy. From that point on, he was considered a throwing quarterback that could also run, versus being a running quarterback, as he had been known pre-injury.

Obviously, there are a lot of variables in play, with regards to RG3's return and how healthy he will be on the other side, but RG3's drive is not one of those variables. He will do the work. In fact, the doctors will have to slow him down, as he will be trying to do too much too soon. If he can come back healthier, based on work ethic, you can bet that he will. I've had the chance to spend some time around Robert and what you see is what you get. The perfect things he says are not just words. He lives every bit of what he says. Don't place concern in whether Robert can do it. Worry about the variables that he doesn't control.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iriBeqCLF7g

[Luca Brasi]

I'm attaching a video below of a news story that ran here locally towards the end of RG3's rehab process. You can see how hard he was working here. The best story I heard about his rehab, and I think it tells a lot about the man is that during games at Floyd Casey Stadium, later that season, Robert and his dad could be found rehabbing in the weight room. During. The. Game. It hurt him so badly to not be out there that he couldn't watch. He needed to work out and get healthy so that he could get back out there. What resulted from RG3's rehab back then was a much better passer. During the time when he couldn't run, Robert and his dad would throw in the parking lot, weight room, wherever, while sitting in chairs. This made his arm tremendously more strong than it had been. In my opinion, the time he spent working on his arm, while he couldn't run, was the most valuable time he spent doing anything while at Baylor. This is when we all saw the tremendous development in his arm strength, as well as accuracy. From that point on, he was considered a throwing quarterback that could also run, versus being a running quarterback, as he had been known pre-injury.

Thank you for the informative and uplifting response. I can only imagine how hard Robert will work to get back on the field, but what is encouraging is that he may very well come back a better quarterback than we can imagine. I'm sure he will spend every waking minute diving into the playbook and working on throwing mechanics. The throught of him becoming even more accurate is downright scary. I think his play had already matured greatly after the injury against Baltimore, as I don't remember him taking any hits after coming back. Unfortunately the damage was done and he tweaked it against Seattle making an off-balance throw. He'll learn from this, and he will come back as the best quarterback the NFL has ever seen. That is my belief.