Carter doesn't need surgery
BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati EnquirerBengals running back Ki-Jana Carter avoided further adversity Tuesday when an examination confirmed that he won't need surgery on his injured left shoulder.
Carter, 24, got the news during a visit with orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala. Andrews gave Carter a computerized strength test, along with a physical examination, which indicated that the torn rotator cuff discovered on Sept. 23 needed more exercise, not an operation.
The timing of the tear enabled Carter to avoid surgery. Not only did it develop months before it was found, but Carter played extensively before and after the diagnosis.
''If it had been a new or fresh tear, that changes everything,'' Bengals trainer Paul Sparling said.
Pelfrey's secret Kicker Doug Pelfrey didn't even tell his parents about the small cartilage tear in his left knee, which team doctor Robert Heidt Jr. repaired Tuesday with minor surgery.
''I just didn't want people coming up to me all the time asking me how my knee was,'' Pelfrey said.
He said it didn't affect his struggles kicking off. ''I'm not using it as a crutch,'' Pelfrey said. ''I couldn't practice as much as I wanted.''
Sparling said he would have been ''very surprised'' if Andrews had urged surgery. Carter might have needed six months of rehabilitation, which would have jeopardized his readiness for the opening of training camp in mid-July.
''If (Carter) clearly is not limited and his strength is good, it makes no sense to go through the long ordeal of a shoulder-rotator cuff reconstruction,'' Sparling said. ''The bottom line is, you're likely not going to be able to improve what he has right now.''
Defying initial fears that his 1997 season was over, Carter missed only one game, though the injury and Corey Dillon's emergence hurt him. Carter finished with 464 yards and seven touchdowns on 128 rushing attempts, a 3.6 yards-per-carry average.
Escaping surgery won't help Carter reclaim the starting tailback's job from Dillon. But at least Carter won't face the uncertainty he did in 1995, when he seriously injured his left knee that preseason and missed his entire rookie year.
''He'll have to work on his conditioning more than usual,'' Bengals President and General Manager Mike Brown said, ''but he proved last spring that he could do that kind of thing, and I'm sure he will now work even harder because he'll have to to keep his shoulder in playing condition.
''It's always good news when somebody doesn't have to undergo an operation. I haven't spoken to him, but I'm sure he feels good about it.''
Carter, traveling from Birmingham, was unavailable for comment.
