Patriots quarterback Mac Jones is expected to get a second opinion on his high ankle sprain with Dr. Martin O’Malley of New York’s Hospital for Special Surgery, according to Mike Giardi of NFL Network.
O’Malley is a foot and ankle specialist and team doctor for the Brooklyn Nets. He’s also the team physician for USA Basketball and Iona University athletics, as well as the foot and ankle consultant for the New York Giants and New York City Ballet.
O’Malley recently performed ankle surgery on former Patriots corner J.C. Jackson. He also operated on Kevin Durant’s Achilles in 2019.
Jones, who didn’t reveal much Monday with respect to the injury or whether he was even pondering surgery, is likely trying to decide if surgery is the right course, and if not, how quickly he can return without it.
“It’s kind of just a day-to-day thing,” Jones said during a video conference. “I’m just trying to get better.”
Subsequent reports from NFL Network suggest Jones is trying to avoid surgery.
“The choices here for Mac Jones are rehabbing from this injury, which I’m told is his preference, or potentially undergoing surgery — most likely the tightrope surgery that Tua Tagovailoa had back in college,” NFL insider Tom Pelissero said during an “NFL Now” appearance.
Mike Garafolo, also with NFL Network, took it a step further.
“Every expectation I’ve got is that there won’t be surgery right now — or at least that was the hope as of yesterday,” Garafolo said. “Rehab, rest, and he’ll get back eventually. There also could be a PRP (platelet-rich plasma) injection … that supposedly will help with the healing. So, you’ll probably see that course of action with Mac Jones.”
High ankle sprains can have athletes out a month or beyond. This one was described as “pretty severe” by several reports.
According to Dr. Jess Flynn, a sports medicine physician at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Burlington, based on the information at hand Jones could be out until late October or November.
“For a high ankle sprain that’s significant, this is generally more than a month of recovery,” Flynn said when reached Monday. “The most significant cases sometimes need surgery to fix it.”
Dr. Flynn tweeted out Tuesday that surgery is usually indicated when the ankle is “unstable.”
The “Tightrope” procedure, which other notable athletes (Tua Tagovailoa, Saquon Barkley, Jalen Hurts) have undergone successfully, can speed recovery if the above is the case.
If reports are correct, Jones is trying to avoid any and all surgery options. That said, it’s hard to know if the team is in agreement.
