Why Jason Ferguson will need time to heal

Wish this weren’t the case, but if there’s anyone who can appreciate and understand Jason Ferguson’s rehab from a ruptured right quadricaps tendon, it’s me. I’m rehabbing from the exact same injury, and I can testify that’s it not at all a quick process. Today is the sixth-month anniversary of my surgery, which resulted from a nasty fall going down a steep, wet hill during a family reunion in upstate New York on Labor Day Weekend. Back in South Florida two days later I was in the office of Dr. Charles Matuszak in Lake Worth. He asked me to extend my right leg and lift off the floor and I couldn’t even budge it an inch. He then told me I’d be undergoing surgery the next day and the leg would be immobilized for the next six weeks. About 10 weeks later I was watching from the press box in Charlotte when Ferguson had to be helped off the field. Just the way he was walking sent chills up and down my spine. It was shortly announced he was gone for the season with a quadriceps injury, but I didn’t know until I ran into him in the parking lot at the Dolphins’ training facility several weeks later he’d had the same tear I had. We both now know the quadriceps tendon, located just above the kneecap, binds the quad muscle to the shin bone. To repair it the surgeon goes in and basically pulls it back into place. I’ve been told the sooner the surgery is done the better, though Ferguson waited about a month to have his done. It amazed

me when he told me he was driving a week after the surgery, but then he showed me his car: A 1986 Cadillac with an adjustable seat that he pushed back so far he could fully extend his leg to the accelerator. When I asked him how he braked, he laughed and said, “That’s the left leg.” I told him that at four months after the surgery I was still unable to run, as the quad muscle suffered some serious atrophy and had to be built back up. He was pretty disappointed about that. Then again, he’s more than 20 years younger than I am and has a full team of trainers and doctors working with him on a daily basis. I work on the leg three times a week at the gym, and while I have been doing treadmill, elliptical and Stairmaster work, I’m still not running. A website dedicated to those who have undergone this injury states the rehab process is from 6-12 months. While Ferguson will be eligible to participate in training camp and preseason games this summer, it’s hard to imagine him being 100 percent by August. By late October or November, when his suspension is up, he should have had the time to build the muscles back up and be ready to go. I expect we’ll talk more about our shared experiences as the season gets closer. I’ll be happy to share any more insights, but I’d be more gratified than most to see big Ferg back in the trenches come Week 9.

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Why Jason Ferguson will need time to heal

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