Dr. Wesley Wang a physical therapist in Rockville, MD., and joined Craig Hoffman of The Team 980 to discuss the surgery and rehab of Commanders DE Chase Young.
Young, who tore the ACL in his right knee on Nov. 14, 2021, also required a Patellar tendon graft from his left knee to repair the torn ACL. Thus, Young required some rehab on both knees. Young returns to practice Wednesday.
Wang works with many D1 athletes in rehab from major sports injuries. Here are a few excerpts from Wang.
“He (Young) is in a sense dealing with two surgeries. One is considered the healthy knee, but was then weakened because they took a third of his Patellar tendon.”
“So throughout the recovery process, you have to be maintaining and managing his load to his non-affected side because you are not trying to aggravate that side.”
“I am going to guess that they put him on a snap count. He might play somewhere along the way of 10 to 15 snaps at first. It seems like they have been really conservative the entire way through (the process). They will manage his volume.”
“My best guess is maybe by Week 13 or 14 he will probably be on a full go. Or they could continue to go the full conservative route snap count the rest of the season. Even as a Commanders fan, I guess they know we are not going to win the Super Bowl this year. They are trying to keep their franchise player as healthy for years and years down the line.”
“Even my high school kids who are playing for scholarships, they are trying to get into D1 schools. In their mind, they think, ‘I have to go back at 100 percent right away.’ But every one of my kids I keep them on a count and increase them by 15-20 percent. That is how I gradually expose them back again.”
“Too many times you see them thrown back out there to a full practice, a full contact go. Four or five times in, something happens to the other ACL. That means you were never adequately prepared. So, with a player of Chase’s caliber, they are going to be really conservative.”
“This man has to bend and twist. He is getting pushed every single play. It’s not like he can avoid contact on any play. He is playing one of the most physical positions in the most physical sport.”
“No matter what, you can never replicate game speed and game intensity in a rehab setting or in practice. It’s borderline impossible.”
“If I were working with someone like Chase I would have gradually built up the speed and progression of him pushing. Asking him, ‘What moves are you hesitant about?’ Whatever it may be, we are going to work on that in the rehab setting, over and over again.”
