Filed under: Redskins, NFC East, NFL Injuries
The inital bad news in Redskins camp was that defensive end Jason Taylor would miss his first Redskins-Cowboys game this Sunday. That will end Taylor's 133 consecutive games played streak.
Now, it seems, the injury that Taylor suffered was worse than first thought and may have been life threatening:
Doctors cut a 6-inch incision into Taylor's calf to drain blood that, left untreated, might have led to nerve or tissue damage and even paralysis, limb loss or death. Redskins trainer Bubba Tyer said it was the first such injury he's had in his 37 seasons with the Redskins. Tyer said there were five similar injuries league-wide in the past six to eight years.
Taylor was kicked in the calf during the Redskins win over the Cardinals last Sunday. Shrugging it off as nothing more than a bruise, Taylor stayed in the game and made some big plays. After the game, he told team doctors of his discomfort and they told him if he felt any numbness in the leg to give them a call.
He did.
Sports
Taylor was then rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. It was discovered that he had a mass of blood near his ankle which caused compartmental syndrome (read more about compartmental syndrome here). Doctors drained the blood which relieved the pressure on the muscles and tissue in Taylor's calf.
If it had not been immediately treated, Taylor could have suffered paralysis, nerve damage, amputation or even death.
Needless to say, Taylor had to catch his breath upon hearing this:
"I was a little scared about that and didn't quite understand why it had to be done so suddenly," Taylor said. "I kept telling the doctor, 'Let's wait until the sun comes up and let me talk to some people,' and they kept stressing how important it was to get it done right away."
