Thursday, September 25, 1997Carter to try to play
Surgery might be postponed
BY GEOFF HOBSON and CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Ki-Jana Carter |
But he plans to do some fast talking this morning with coach Bruce Coslet in an effort to stay in the starting lineup against the New York Jets, despite the club's declaration that he will not play on Sunday.
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Bengals (1-2) Sunday, 4 p.m. Line: Cin by 4 |
"Maybe hold me out a few days of getting hit on, but I can go out there and run the plays," Carter said. "I'm going to try to play. At training camp, they said it was sore and they put me back in.
"I'm committed to this team. I really want to play. I think we're going in a positive direction, and I don't want to sit it out."
Carter returned from a visit to Birmingham, Ala., with orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews, who confirmed the Bengals' diagnosis of a rotator-cuff tear.
All parties have agreed that Carter must undergo surgery at some point to repair the injury. Should Carter defer the procedure until the end of the season, the estimated three-month rehabilitation period would allow him to be ready for May mini-camp.
"If it turns out he cannot be effective (playing), then the decision will make itself, if you will," Bengals trainer Paul Sparling said.
Andrews, who repaired the left knee ligament tear that cost Carter his 1995 rookie season, said that the shoulder injury probably occurred long before last Sunday's game at Denver. Carter said he was assured by Andrews that there's no risk in playing because he won't do more damage to the shoulder. The same shoulder bothered Carter during training camp.
Carter figured that because it's an old injury, he can still do the things he did in Denver, where he became the Bengals' first 100-yard rusher in 68 games with 104 yards on 13 carries.
In fact, Carter's 79-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second half came after he hurt the shoulder twice in the first half. Carter said he first hurt it stretching for the yard marker at the end of a run, then aggravated it while blocking.
Thus, Carter's continuing to play isn't all that far-fetched. "The risk, albeit there, is nomimal," said Sparling, who will help determine whether Carter can practice today after putting him through treatment.
"If you look at the amount of progress he has made in the last 72 hours, he has full range of motion now," Sparling added. "His strength is improving. His soreness is diminishing. It's not unrealistic to think there's an outside chance he'd be able to do something next week."
Much depends on Carter's pain threshold.
"I don't think it's going to hurt any worse than it was on Sunday," Carter said. "I was in pain the rest of the game. I've got my strength. I can hold on to the ball."
Playing with a torn rotator cuff is not unprecedented. Anthony Munoz, who starred at left tackle for the Bengals from 1980-92, suffered that fate in the 14th game of the 1990 season but played the final two games. He also played in the wild-card playoff victory over Houston, but the discomfort prevented him from participating in the divisional playoff loss to the Los Angeles Raiders.
"I basically didn't do anything (in practice) until Friday," Munoz said. "That late in the season, your conditioning is pretty good anyway. I'd play the game, then I'd be back to ground zero on Monday."
Said Sparling, "You could do an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging examination) on all the players in the NFL, and you would find a portion of them that have rotator-cuff tears don't even know they have them. They have sore shoulders, and they play with them."
Bengals defensive end Dan Wilkinson said he missed two games during his redshirt freshman year at Ohio State with a sprained rotator cuff.
"I'm still not really over it," Wilkinson said. "It's going to be tough on him. There'll be pain. They'll be going for the ball and there'll be pushing on the arm."
The consensus is that Carter can handle the punishment.
"Nobody's ever denied that he was a tough guy," Coslet said. "I know what he has been playing with. When a running back plays with a sore shoulder for a month and a half, you know he has something in his insides. I didn't want to say that publicly, because every linebacker in the league would have taken a shot at his shoulders."
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