Virginia Tech head athletic trainer Mike Goforth announced that true freshman running back Marshawn Williams suffered a tear of his left ACL in last Saturday's game against Duke and will miss the remainder of the season.
Williams left the Duke game early in the second quarter with what was ruled a left knee sprain, and following the game team doctor Tony McPherron said he was "probably" done for the season.
"I've never seen anything like it," Tech offensive coordinator Loeffler said after Tech's win over Duke last week. "Hopefully we don't lose any more. It's really sad for Marshawn."
The Hampton, Virginia, native will miss spring practice, and team doctors will let the swelling in the knee subside before operating in a few weeks.
Williams tweeted last Saturday evening that the injury would not set him back.
Best believe I'm coming back stronger then I have ever been. Better then I have ever been. Smarter then ever before pic.twitter.com/658h1Kbu62— Marshawn Williams (@RunJuice42) November 15, 2014
Williams is the second Tech tailback to tear his ACL this year as Shai McKenzie (53 carries, 269 yards, 3 TDs) tore his right ACL in September. Additionally, tailback Trey Edmunds broke his clavicle in October and has yet to return.
Comments
well isn't that just a
THIS...to our entire running back core.
Well, you know what this means.
Feeding Rogers the pill 35 times a game. Followed by Lane Stadium collapsing under the sheer awesomeness of it all.
Damn - Best wishes to Marhshawn for a speedy recovery.
Awful news. Hang in there, Marshawn!
I know Marshawn will work his tail off to get back. damn I've never heard of a team being decimated by injuries at one position than we have at RB, it's so frustrating for these kids because they are so good and have so much potential
Remember 2012 when Maryland had to use a true freshman linebacker at quarterback after losing its top 5 QB's. That was slightly worse than our RB injuries this year.
That's the worst injury situation at a position I've ever seen.
I almost felt sorry for Maryland...
... Until we realized that Randy Edsall was still their coach.
And they didn' have a Rogers to go to.
Or a J.C.
2 torn ACLs in one season by our top 2 RBs?
Hope this is just a coincidence and not any red flags to any systematic issues we have with training.
Yeah, I think that's a good question. Maybe Joe can get an interview with a sports medicine type or kinesiologist or whatever doc works on connective tissue and injury eval.
Is there a way training can have an impact on this type of injury? Or is it just the connective tissue you are born with.
I do have to wonder if we rushed guys back from injury too fast this year. First, there was Shai, who was coming off a big injury in high school, who some said would be a stretch to really contribute this year, and then he blows his ACL. Now, in the first game back from injury, Marshawn blows an ACL as well.
I don't like to believe in coincidences, but I'm just praying this is the case this year. I would have a very, very difficult time accepting the fact that we were playing guys who shouldn't have been on the field.
It wasn't Marshawn's first game back. He had been slightly hampered with an ankle sprain....and had been quoted during the bye week as saying he was getting back to 100%.
I personally think it is just some bad luck. just like our Bball team seems to have had for the past decade.
Let's not forget Tony Gregory who seemed like he tore 17 ACL's while at VT.
Blowing out an ACL has little to do with training. Most times ligaments just stretch, other times they pop. Other than ankles, it is the most common skill position injury. Think back in your football viewing life, Pro and college, and remember the number of players blow out a knee in the open field, no one around.
Luckily its the surgery that has come such a long way, that it is no longer a career ender. Which it used to be.
Marshawn and Shai both will be back better than ever. Ask Duke Johnson.
Is there a way to loosen them or nutrition or something?
Is some type of strength exercise tightening them?
Or is it just that the big strong cutback type guys put too much torque and they go pop?
There was an interesting hypothesis in a thread back when Shai tore his, about guys simply getting too big for their frames. Everyone is getting bigger and stronger, but is still expected to stay fast and agile. I haven't seen data to back it up, but it's an interesting thought. Marshawn is a bruiser, and he has to be in order to run through beefy D-lines and smash into strong LBs and safeties, but to make cuts and such as an RB puts a lot of stress on the legs. In this case, though, I think he just took a shot at a terrible angle and his leg bent sideways, from what I recall. Not much anyone is going to be able to do about that.
Yeah, this one was all about the hit he took. It's the same reason that hitting a kicker's plant leg is typically an instant 15-yard penalty - hitting a guy's leg while he's got all his weight on it is an excellent way to do some serious damage. Just horrible luck there. A split second either way and he goes a little head-over-heels, gets up, and keeps on a'goin.
I'm not a doctor, and I don't stay at Holiday Inn Express.
But I have heard the theory on ACLs and elite athletes is that guys are building up their quads so much these days, that knee ligaments can't keep up. It's like twirling around a boat anchor on a kite string. This probably holds especially true on RBs. Your prototype RB is going to be heavily built in the glutes and quads for that low center of gravity type power that a RB needs for cutting, weaving, and exploding.
I said something to that effect before so you might be thinking of that post. I started to look into it but I never got too in depth. I did find this info graphic charting the average weight of NFL rookies by position: Player Evolution Chart The gains aren't as drastic as I would have imagined but I'm still standing by my armchair scientist hypothesis that a lot of injuries are at least partially attributed to size. Even looking at myself, before my daughter was born I was 6'7" and around 215-220 pounds, since she came around and I haven't made time for the gym I've probably put on 30 pounds. There are a ton of aches and pains that just weren't here when I was in better shape. On a side note, I was thinking he was reaching for his knee before contact, but am I blurring Juice and Gurley there?
I recall the commentators saying it looked like it was before contact as well, they seemed to think it happened upon planting his foot (I believe Shai was also before contact)
Watching the replay that was not the case, he was hit first.
When I had a node removed from a knee in '98 the ortho surgeon jokingly suggested that I never participate in contact sports since he found that my ACL was smaller/slimmer than he expected for someone my size. I didn't mention my history as a football player. He suggested I do a lot of work on the hamstrings to compensate for those triathlete cycling legs I sported at the time.
As for Marshawn, I can imagine that he's telling the coaches that he's already ready to go. He'll certainly lighten up Shai's recovery.
As a counter point to the argument that it is about body mass, I remember reading that female soccer players were the most likely to tear an ACL. Here is a link to an article quoting "numerous research studies" that "females are 4-8 time more likely" to tear the ACL.
ACL Injury and the Female Soccer Player
I am not sure if that's a great counterpoint. Females are just more than likely to tear their ACL if I recall correctly from my doctor. I was told flat out I tore my ACL before I got the MRI just to confirm it. Somehow it wasn't torn at all, only stretched a lot (but it wasn't a sprain through, so I was confused about that), and the doctor said I was extremely lucky and if I was a girl it definitely would have been complete tear.
From what I have heard, body mass is just another variable adding to the strain of the ACL and other ligaments in your knee when your knee moves in ways it's not supposed to.
Yes females are more likely to tear their ACL, but that is just due to their bodies being anatomically different.
Flexibility training I have heard can help. But ligaments aren't really meant to be tugged and flexed and pulled upon like a RB will do. Or a point guard.
I blew my ACL in War Memorial in 98. I got undercut going up for a rebound. Left foot planted and my body went the other way and Pop. No more left ACL. I was a twenty year old weekend warrior athlete, not a finely tuned Hokie machine.
Seems like working to increase flexibility would help too. but with the speed and power these guys play with there is only so much you can do to reduce the risk of tearing ligaments.
with ACL injuries it is all in the mechanism in which the injury occurs. Tearing your ACL can result from contact or non contact. With marshawn his foot was planted and his knee went in the opposite direction in which the ACL acts. and Mckenzie with it being his second isn't too surprising because ACLs tears have a high percentage of re-tearing. But that doesn't mean that everyone who has torn it once will retear it again. both their injuries are not related to each other. their position requires a lot of pivoting and cutting which is often the mechanism of injury with a non contact tear along with a change in direct, accelerating, or decelerating. Believe it or not ACL injuries are more likely to occur in females than males due to predisposing factors. Its just a string of bad luck more than anything and the two are not related.
(I am currently finishing up my Athletic Training degree and will sit for the boards in april)
I think we'll allow it.
Please, stand and be recognized before you sit.
Leg for the explanation.
Something they have really harped on here in my first semester at school is it is never just one thing. What I mean by that is if you bend down to pick up a sock and you back goes into spasm you don't blame the sock. It is just the culmination of all the previous events that has now shown itself in this seemingly random occurrence. So when we see an athlete tear the ACL without any contact it wasn't that single step that tore the tendon but in reality the constant wear and tear of each previous step.
I really hope I make Dr. Thompson proud with this. Not that he'll ever see it.
Edit: I asked Dr. T about this. I made him proud.
I would blame the sock....especially if it's just some loner sock without a pair.....
**be careful searching for sock gifs or anyting at work.....a lot sock fetish and "burnette girl sock gif" type stuff pops up....soooo, at least I can tell my wife that I was really trying to look at socks....
Maryland lost 4 QBs in one season a couple of years ago, at least 2 (maybe 3?) were ACLs in non-contact drills, so this kind of thing is not unheard of. Hopefully just a string of bad luck that ends now.
Good luck in your recovery, Marshawn. We're pulling for you.
Two tailbacks... two blown ACLs.
No forking way that's happened before.
unreal..worst possible result of that MRI. Was hoping for nothing more than a sprain, as originally thought. Tough break for Williams, who said he was getting close to 100% before the game. Gotta be some seriously good luck/karma coming this team's way next year. No way luck this bad can continue. Best of luck to him..gotta get after it in the rehab.
worst thing about it i think the guy that made the tackle was off sides by like a yard and had a free shot at marshawn. hope the best for him in a speedy recovery he seemed in good spirits when he came out of the locker room and back to the field always smiling and waiving to folks in the stands. great football player even better kid.
Only silver lining is that he will have a buddy that is going through the exact same thing. Trey Edmunds injury is really hurting us now. Hope they all recover quickly and effectively.
Trey Edmunds is in blue today at practice....
Do they expect him to play this week? We sure could use him
I don't believe they have said. I just saw were Andy Bitter posted that on twitter
but I was at work so I couldn't post it.
From Andy's practice report last night, Shane said it is unlikely Trey will play against Wake.
Probably for the best. He needs time to heal. Thanks for the info!
Hopefully we won't need Trey against Wake. Get him healthy for revenge against UVA for breaking his leg!
Current state of affairs at the RB position:
just a matter of time before our RBs look like this running for TDs in the open field
all kidding aside it really is some bad luck wish juice a speedy recovery. hope Joel Caleb gets a chance to redem himself and see the field and pleaseeeeeee no more injuries this year!
I think I missed the joke?
Look at the lower legs of the guy in green
That guy in green is faster than a speeding bullet
Wish we could have said the same about his girlfriend....before he murdered her and all
Hilarious. I'm in my school library and just busted out laughing.
Shane Beamer: "Have at you!!"
"what are you going to do? bleed on me?"
I was thinking of this when a read the post above that said "I'm sure Marshawn is already telling the coaches he's ready to go."
like this:
seriously though, best wishes to Marshawn (and the mountain of other injured players) for a speedy recovery.
Could someone on here that has more information at their disposal compile a list of guys in our 3 deep that has been injured or banged up this season? I believe we could set a school record
I would be interested in seeing how many of our 3 deep have gotten hurt as well, though not just this year, but also over the last few years. When it was asked up thread if this was a training issue, I wondered the same thing, and have been wondering it all season with the string of injuries we've had at every position. This is not the first season its crossed my mind and I was glad to see someone asked the question. It seems that "a rash of injuries" has been almost a mantra the last few years. It may just be my perception, but I feel like Tech has had more than its fair share of injuries for a string of years. The number of guys going down this year made me wonder if our training program might be outmoded. Tech has always been awesome at strength training but I wondered if we were missing something in flexibility training/conditioning. It's been said that an ACL injury isn't related to that, so probably not Marshawn's injury...but what about the muscle tears and the sprains and all the other injuries that we've had to deal with? When's the last time that Tech was able to field all of their pre-season starters on either side of the ball by the third or fourth game of the season?
That thing is possessed, or remote-operated by a woman scorn.
i died from this!!!!!
this was my fear. his recovery will probably stretch into next season with the injury coming so late in the season. Best to be careful to make sure Marshawn's knee heals properly. I'm looking forward to when he gets back on the field, just hoping he's truly 100% when he does come back.
Shoot, we might be right back Trey and a couple freshmen next year too.
If it's going to stretch into next year then I say redshirt him and play Trey, Shai (if and when he's ready), and JC. Only burn the redshirt if they go down with injuries next year.
I was thinking the same thing. Shai has a 7 week head start on rehab and SHOULD be ready before Marshawn. There's no point in rushing Marshawn back (assuming all other running back are healthy for the start of next season).
Hate to see this happen to such a good kid. I'll be wearing my #42 jersey in honor of him this weekend.
Ugh, this is terrible for Marshawn. Best of luck in his recovery.
With al of these injuries we might end up having more running backs on the roster next year than we did this year. Just because some guys might not be fully recovered for the first part of the season.
Crazy how in preseason camp and at the beginning of the season the RB rotation was all out of wack and we had "too many" guys at RB....
So with Marshawn missing spring practice with the ACL, is he on the inside track to redshirting next year? I feel for the kid he's really shown improvement as the year has gone on. Regardless of his role next year I wish him a swift and complete recovery.
Redshirt is definitely the best idea and safest for his recovery. Hopefully coaches see it that way. Hope he gets better soon!
Now do we redshirt both MW and Shai? Hopefully Shai is ready to go by the beginning of the season but I think he misses spring practice too. Perhaps it will be Trey and JC back at it again as the 1-2.
This seems a good idea IMHO. Let MW and Shai rest through next year and really get their recovery completed and Gentrification to support that recovery fully involved. Use JC and Trey next year as the #1 and #2 with the freshman RBs McClease and Fox.
Considering this year, I would think that would be the plan going into next year, but both MW and Shai would be in the wings working with the O the entire season in case they have to be brought in sometime through the 2015 season.
This scenario has our RB depth very high for next year.
Don't forget current redshirts D.J. Reid and Travon McMillian.
#allofthetailbacks
i hope that #1/#2 JC/Trey isn't respective.
no way JC should start over Trey. i think next year will be a great year for Trey to be the featured back running behind an improved(?) o-line.
It wasn't. I was just saying they would be the #1 and #2 (should of said in no particular order).
word!
I thought that Shai was going to apply for a medical redshirt this year. Maybe I am wrong.
Feel better and take your time to rehab it correctly.
Tough break for a tough, hard-charging Back. We wish you the best in your recovery, Marshawn, and look forward to your retaking the field in the fall
I am Deshawn YA YA YAAA (best lorde impersonation ever)