Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer and associate athletics director for sports medicine Mike Goforth announced that junior cornerback Kendall Fuller underwent right knee surgery on Tuesday.
"Kendall was very determined to compete as long as he could with this injury," Beamer said in a release. "While we are all disappointed that he is sidelined for the remainder of the season, we know Kendall will approach his rehab with a positive attitude and will continue to contribute to our team with his knowledge and leadership."
"Kendall courageously attempted to play the first three games of this season with a torn meniscus that occurred during preseason camp in August," Goforth said in a release. "After this past weekend's game, it was decided that surgery would be the best option moving forward, and Kendall will miss the remainder of the 2015 football season. The procedure was performed Tuesday morning and Kendall is expected to have a full recovery."
Fuller played the entire 2014 season with a fractured left wrist.
Comments
As much as I would like to say: "next man up" and believe we can handle it, this one hurts. Deep.
When is the last time we didn't have a Fuller suit up for the good guys? Sad face...
The Fuller era ends. The Edmunds era dawns. Let's go.
HOOOOKIEESSS!!!!!
Sad to hear. I hope he makes a full recovery and decides to come back to showcase his skills next year. Next man up, time to see the defense step up to another dose of adversity. Let's go hokies
Let's see how DBU we REALLY are now.
Hopefully we didn't find that out last weekend... :'(
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Get well soon, Kendall.
Our logo needs to be changed to this gif until further notice...
That would probably fit on the helmet.
I am devastated. Mostly for him, I really hope this doesn't affect his draft stock.
Sadly, it likely will. Ifo Ekpre-Olomu from Oregon was a projected first round pick but then tore his ACL during bowl season practice and ended up not being drafted until the 7th round. I'm not saying that Kendall will fall that far, but he likely won't be drafted until the mid rounds if he declares. I think in this case, it would benefit him to come back and prove that he is a first round talent (which he is.)
Meniscus vs ACL. Very, VERY different injuries with very different prognoses.
Very true. It just seems that other than running backs, CB is the position that knee injuries affect draft stock the most. I have no doubt that whenever and wherever Kendall is drafted, he will prove to be a steal.
Also timing of injury. He has time to be healthy for the combine type stuff. Oregon guy didn't really have the time.
Totally different. Oregon's player did a lot more than tear an ACL, doctor's were saying it was highly probable that it would be career ending and he'd never play again.
This hurts, us and him, but it's on a much smaller level.
When will the injuries stop?
They won't. It's football and why depth is important. It sucks, but it's the reality of the beast.
True, but VT is due (and has been for some time) for some injury bug relief.
Ehh... there was a duration there for a while in the 2000s where we went through seasons fairly healthy. One could argue the last few years are evening that out before Frank's retirement
great point-when you think about how bad our OL was during the Tyrod and LT3 years was, it's a miracle this didn't happen to one of them then, and think how bad our seasons could've been if this had happened
Oof, that hurts to see in writing.
WHY CAN'T WE HAVE NICE THINGS????????
Because you touch yourself at night.
BOOM
Hate this for Kendall. Selfishly, I hope we haven't seen the last of him in O&M, but if we have I can't wait to see him tear up the NFL,
As for depth, didn't Riley have a great spring/summer? It's time to get creative and for DBlock to go to work.
So sorry for him. I wish he would have not played at all now, and respect and admire him even more for giving all he had and more. Hopefully a speedy recovery.
also, apparently the universe deemed a secondary with Fuller AND Facyson was just too damn good and has sought to restore balance every time. This is logically the only explanation as to why we can't have even ONE-HALF SEASON with the both of them.
Ugh, right in the feels.
Could see this one building more and more. First out for a game, then next game..then surgery.
Hope he loves college enough to come back. Wouldn't blame him for leaving.
This one stings. Damn.
Poor Kendall. He shouldn't have been playing at all.
Why does it feel like this always happen to us with our people who will be high draft picks? Ryan Williams, Kyle Fuller had nagging injuries his whole senior year, Exum, Luther, Dadi always has something wrong and now Kendall.
Michael Vick missing the Miami game too
most appropriate I've seen so far.
Why are you playing that OSU game footage here?
Kendall is courageous as hell for playing through the injury, but the coaches and trainers need to tell him it's not worth mortgaging his future as likely first round NFL draft pick. He shouldn't have played a snap for the Hokies this year.
If the coaches knew he was this hurt, they needed to do what was in his best interests and not played him this year.
I agree that he should've shut it down in August and had the surgery then. However he wanted to play and thought he could continue to play through rehab and have surgery later (or never). His knee was doing better game by game, until it was re-injured during the Purdue game.
Sometimes the coaches have to be the voice of reason and tell the kid to shut it down for his own benefit. I'm sure Kendall wanted to play, but he's too young to know and understand the long term implications of playing on a hurt knee like that. If this thing lingers long term, by playing and aggravating that injury through 3 games, he could have cost himself 7-8 figures in future salaries and endorsements. The coaches have to do what's best for him and shut it down.
Not sure that meniscus injuries operate this way. The pain and severity is dependent upon the individual. Personally I thought something was wrong when Kirk Blowhard was calling him out for getting blown up on a nice move by a FR or SO WR. Kendall's feet were in the exact right position ... set to explode. But the pain signals mask contraction signals... and they masked them for too long and when the muscle did explode it wasn't the Kendall we know.
I am 3 weeks out from a meniscus cleanup and can't sprint but can run... I haven't rehabbed mine and am an old overweight fart... if its just a cleanup a dedicated athlete like Kendall could be back much earlier. If they found a part they can repair (like stitching something up versus shaving something off) then he likely will take a couple months more than that.
Big question is if he'll come back next season.
If the NFL is dangling first round money in front of him, he's played his last collegiate snap
He could potentially come back two more years if he really wanted. I think he could apply for a medical redshirt for this year. That would leave him a redshirt junior next year with a senior year on tap.
I know I am dreaming, but I can hope can't I?
Torn MCL is not that big of a deal. Wont hurt his draft this early in the year. Many people don't even have surgery on it and let it heal naturally.
Torn ACL is a big deal and can hurt draft status. He's still a 1st rnd draft pick and will be gone.
Best of luck Mr. Fuller.
When it comes to knee injuries, the meniscus tear is probably the least scary. Still sucks though. Tear your MCL or ACL though and it becomes a lot more serious. Kendall will bounce back and make some NFL team very happy.
The fact that he has been playing with this injury suggests meniscal tear. Playing on an ACL injury would be near impossible especially for a corner. I would same the same for an MCL considering the varus and valgus forces inflicted on the knee during play. Meniscal tear should be an easy repair and very little risk of further complications. Woudlnt anticipate it affecting his draft stock. I would love to see him on the field in Lane again, but certainly want the best for him. Hate to see the Fuller saga end like this.
It was meniscus, though. Least serious of all the knee injuries that require some sort of operation.
And the injury curse continues. Every year, the ones that we can least afford to lose go down. I think injuries have accounted for at least 2 loses each of the last 3 seasons.
When will it end!
At what point do we discard the notion of a curse, and have to look at all the injuries, and the cases where players were rushed back too soon, and ask if there's an issue with getting these kids healthy properly.
It's a tough question to ask, because injuries go hand-in-hand with football, and a "tough-guy" culture is inherent in football, but food for thought nonetheless.
That's precisely it. We're rushing kids back too fast and they're getting reinjured almost immediately.
But the root cause of this is our inability to effectively recruit depth. We are rushing these kids back because the backups are not the quality of players we need to be competitive. If we had quality backups, we'd allow these kids to fully recover before taking the field again. Unfortunately, our recruiting will not change until the big change up top is made.
Look at ND.. They lose a starting RB and QB... in comes a sophomore QB and they easily slot in a RB (who has 600 rushing yards through 4 games)
depth matters
^^^This all the way. I have always thought that lack of depth has contributed greatly to our injury situation. Look at all of our RBs that have gone into the NFL and faltered due to recurring injuries. Suggs, KJ, RMFW, DW... could be a reason the staff is spreading our RB carries around so much now that we do have depth. I'm amazed that neither Phillips nor Ford have gone down with something at this point (knock on wood).
recruiting nationally at a Blue Blood program doesn't hurt your potential for depth.
If you believe that we are on the same recruiting level as ND, I can sell you the deed to the Duck Pond.
It was Duck Lake yesterday.
I'm not saying we're anywhere near ND recruiting level at all. But there's also no reason why a walk on should be in the two deep for VT especially when our defense is top 5-10 every year. Nothing against him at all but just is mind boggling.
When 7 of the 13 LB's on the roster are true freshmen or Red-shirt Freshman that looks like a problem to me?
A result of previous years, yeah.
Well, that means the recruiting problems are being fixed. Unfortunately, it's really hard to retroactively fix recruiting.
I wouldn't say recruiting problems are being fixed by grabbing low 2*'s and more walk on's for scout team.. its hard to retroactively fix recruiting for sure, sadly that is also a reason why we've been mediocre the last 4 years.. following the same path and expecting it to be different.
And it would be interesting to see it in context of other ACC schools. My perception is that our injury "curse" isn't any worse than our competitors.
I've wondered about that too, but didn't want to voice it. At one point, Goforth and company were considered some of the best in the business and a major reason we were turning 2* and 3* players into such productive players on the field. I have to think they haven't forgotten how to train players and condition them in a way that helps protect them from injuries because they used to be pretty good at it.
I know from my own Aikido training, which can be very harsh on the body, protecting yourself from injury is also dependent on what I'll call "economy of motion"...basically being able to control your own body, an awareness of yourself you develop. It helps with gross motor coordination. My only injuries have happened (separated shoulder, partially torn wrist ligament) when I screwed up my own body control and coordination.
I will say sometimes I see our guys flailing around on the field almost out of control of their own bodies instead of having good overall body coordination and control. I've wondered many times whether it contributes to their injuries.
I think it's football, and shit happens.
Broken collarbones, wrists, legs and ACL sprains have nothing to do with conditioning. these are the types of injuries we're getting.
After those injuries that have nothing to do with conditioning, we're not that bad. Some basic sprained ankles and such.
There have been so many injuries in college football this year it seems. So many teams losing players for the season.
I'm with this. I've been suspect of our training staff for a while now. There have been dramatic leaps in the field of recovery in the last 5-7 years, and I'm curious if our staff is up with the times. Same goes for training - are these kids training hard or are they training smart - there's a huge difference.
This also goes back to RECRUITING. I think it's a lot easier for a player to sit on a bench if he knows the team can survive without him. When we don't have a suitable replacement, I think players want to get back to the field quicker, and coaches/staff are less likely (whether subconsciously or not) to force them to sit out.
I'd love to see injury data for every FBS team - in fact, given what we're learning (or confirming) about concussions in football, this should be something that NCAA tracks.
See: Shai McKenzie
Meniscus tears are tricky. Many times they don't present right away except for annoying pain.
I had nuisance knee pain my whole senior year HS soccer season. Last game of the season, I was running, when all of a sudden it felt like someone was trying to murder my kneecap with an ice pick.
Ortho told me I had a torn meniscus, that most likely occurred months before the incident.
I immediately think of the news that Motuapauka may play this week...
Could he be ready when I thought it was a 4 week injury or is it out of not wanting to start a true freshman against a power running team? Any new info on his status?
I guess the coaches feel a 75% Moto is better than a total greenhorn freshman against run happy Pittsburgh.
I'd be willing to see what a greenhorn freshman could do after Moto's body of work thus far.
Well, I see your point, but against a run heavy squad like Pitt, that MLB's got to be able to get the guys lined up. Moto's experience is probably better here. FWIW, I would start Hurlskamp if he were available.
You do realize there's a very good chance it can get worse?
Blaming losses on injuries every year is bogus. It happens to every team, you just have to be prepared with depth. Can't rely on having 22 good players
Easy to say. Very hard to do.
Last year we beat the average by quite a bit and that was by the end of game 3.
See ya in the NFL Kendall, it was fun while it lasted.
I think we need to start looking for a knee health coach, we've had a rash of injuries here lately
If this were an episode of Sesame Street, it would be the one brought to you by the the letters . . . .
Ah, well, you know which four I was going for.
Edit: Missed it by 24 seconds. Leg for you vtfly.
Leg for you since you are clearly a genius since you had the same thought as me!
Leg for both of you as this is one of my favorite SNL skits
Well, if this isn't a kick in the dick I don't know what is....However, now between the ECU game and now this, if the team doesn't come out with fire and play pissed off I don't know what will make them....hell, I'm pissed off for them. We've been punched in the mouth twice this week, on Saturday we better punch someone back! That someone happens that's a team that's been a pain in the ass for years now.
I leave you all with this: "We gotta take these bastards. Now we could do it with conventional weapons, but that could take years and cost millions of lives. No, I think we have to go all out. I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part!"
Motley said exactly that after the game, that everybody has to played pissed off during practice and pissed off during the game. Hope he and the team stay true too their word.
Maybe I don't understand the biz, but how is Kendall sitting out the rest of the season NOT set him up to drop pretty low in the draft. What NFL team is going to drop 1st round money on a kid who hasn't seen the field since Sept? I'm not saying he can't go low 2nd round, but I can't imagine a scenario where this doesn't significantly hurt his draft stock.
A meniscus tear is a pretty common injury. If he's healthy when the combine works around and can work out for teams he'll be fine. Todd Gurley blew out his ACL and was still a high 1st round pick.
... after having had a junior season in which he rushed for almost 1000 yards in only six games due to missing four of them because of suspension. (FWIW, I still think StL wasted that pick, and I'm a huge Gurley fan)
It says a lot about Kendall that he can still ball out while playing injured like he did last year, but if the last two seasons before his draft-eligibility year are full of injuries, teams might not be so high on him until they see he can stay healthy.
And I will just say this... defensively, we're in a world of trouble this year. We cannot stop the run, as proven against ECU, which has also been a problem for a few years now, and now, we're down our top talent in the secondary for the remainder of the season. And I'll just be kind and say that Kendall's replacement struggled against ECU.
Looking at the remaining teams on the schedule and how they run their offenses... I have a really bad feeling the bottom is about to fall out and we're going to collapse our way to a 4 or 5 win season. Defensively, I just don't see us with the depth and talent in key positions to compete.
I wouldn't say we can't stop the run per se. We certainly can't contain a running QB though. As far as backs go though, I think we have done a sufficient job of stopping that aspect. ECU's back had like 15 carries for something like 3 or 4 yards. Summers tore us up though. QB contain and tackling is an issue and Bud needs to do something about it for us to have success throughout the remainder of the year.
Fuck that, we'll just win with our offense... 50+ point track meet style.
Look out bitches, it's coming.
I like how you think, Leonard.
And it's a great way for Loeffler to earn his keep if he ends up having to carry the team this season.
Got Oregon to the National Championship
To be fair, we haven't actually seen Kendall's replacement since it's Edmunds. Gray decided to use Stroman in the ECU game who didn't practice there all week.
2015 season in a nutshell:
This is what the HYPE TRAIN has been reduced to.
Lol
OT- but what is the context of this gif?
Looks like a demonstration of an implosion. Linky
Thank you. Have a leg!
That's what happens if you steam clean an oil tanker and seal it up immediately after finishing
This was done to demonstrate the forces of condensing steam to stress the importance of purging with a non-condensable gas after steam cleaning. Basically they filled the railcar with steam and let it sit. Steam takes up much more vapor space than liquid and condensing steam will create a very strong vacuum as you can see.
Thanks for the explanation HomeBrew! Somehow I actually feel smarter for knowing this
Saw that at a buddy's brewery.
Cleaned a brite tank with hot liquid and then drained it. Left the brite tank in the walk in cooler. It does not take long to create $10,000 worth of scrap stainless steel.
I think they forgot to open the vent when pumping out that tank...
Kinda reminds me of a girl I knew once...
Well that would explain why he looked awful this year.
Good job Michael Thomas, you were able to outplay a guy with one leg. Stop talking shit.
This is exactly what I was thinking on Saturday evening... Nice tweet, Mike.
So hope they meet in the NFL again one day. Revenge would be delivered.
That's very big of him.
But I guess I'll take it. Bygones and such.
Who thinks we're actually going to a bowl game this year?
This guy.
Agreed. We only need to win 4 more games and with Purdue we proved we can show up if we feel like it. But please, for the love of god, just beat UVA
Meeeeeeeee!
*raises hand.
I say Edmunds will be OK.
I do.
Mostly because there are a ridiculous number of them.
I was a fan of her.
I liked Callie's spunk, but I was a big Kate Walsh fan back when she was on it. I liked Tina Majorino (Deb from Napoleon Dynamite) and her character, but they killed her off. I used to watch with my wife but now that hardly any original characters remain I've moved onto other shows.
I thought we were only talking about cartoon crushes?
That's a different thread.
I mean she would do it anywhere and later she brought in another woman.
Whoever decided at VT to hire Dr. Nick Riviera to head up the medical staff should be fired.
The previous team orthopedic surgeon (pretty sure he doesn't do our athletes anymore) did my ACL meniscus then re-torn meniscus surgeries. Then this happened.....
http://www.collegiatetimes.com/news/virginia_tech/tech-athletics-surgeon...
Toliver would have been helpful about now
That dude was never coming here. His dad played at LSU.
Mook Reynolds would have been helpful about now. Oh, wait, we have him. Maybe we will be okay.
Yea I know we were never getting him. The guy is already killing it at LSU right now.
I think Mook will be a damn good db for us, but he isn't on the Toliver level
At first I was like
But then I was all
I appreciate your use of the T.E.S.B. gif, since I just watched it last night. God I cant wait for episode VII
I hate everything
Get ready to see Blitz City...Foster is going to have to try and get in the backfield quickly to avoid exposing coverage.
Another standout player for Virginia Tech is injured and had surgery and will be out for the season. I couldn't be more surprised if I woke up and my head was stitched to the carpet.
Not the same injury, but heres a pretty cool gif of how an ACL is reconstructed
As someone who has had this exact procedure, this is really freaking cool.
Samesies!
Saw this on imgur yesterday and thought about posting it over here. Beat me to it, kff17.
As if the Pitt game wasn't already cursed....
Ooooooooooh. That's not good.
Actually... I'm starting to think all of our game posters should show players that have been previously injured or suspended. That way, there can never be a curse against an active player.
and then there's this ...like really who the f says that??
where did that come from?
reditt on the article about fuller.. people really do love to same the dumbest things
I mean this just supports my total
DislikeNo hatred of Reddit.I like it because its easier to see other teams stuff but the comments are normally pissing matches and who has the biggest donger.
also the fulmer cup updates are pretty funny to read too
What a nonsense thing to say. That comment was immediately downvoted and the rest of the thread was completely sympathetic about the situation
Right, because Kendall is the fighting type.
Fuck that guy.
wow. that sounds...inaccurate and spiteful at best.
Alright, FifthFuller. You're in at CB on Saturday. Your time is now.
Wonder if Mama Fuller has any tread left on the tires and wants to suit up.
Logged into TKP after sitting out a couple days, figuring I'd come back after I and the rest of the fans had settled down after last Saturday, and I could properly appreciate the community.
Nothing really prepares you to properly appreciate a kick in the jimmy.
Marshawn disagrees. He is always ready.
I'm thinking there's collusion between the girl delivering the kick "3 feet too low", and the spectator at top left.
Possibly just a supportive family member who didn't grasp what actually happened.
Crud muffins. Or as I say at work, "Bad word, bad word, bad word....."
With this very bad news, what was once the hype train now looks like...
So, time to blame the bridge when the hype train goes off the rails?
If the supports are rusty, the train doesn't get far.
I just have to ask this question, and I hope this doesn't come across the wrong way, but didn't the coaching staff think that maybe the kid should have had the surgery before the season started and just rehab and play next year? I've had a torn meniscus in my right knee and it hurt like the dickens before I had it repaired through surgery. I can't even imagine how much pain this young man must have been while playing a physically demanding sport like Football.
I believe that even if they did advise him to get the surgery, they can't really comment due to patient privacy laws. If he chose to play through it and they made a public statement that he was playing through it, they could be legally liable.
Thank you for your reply. I know I don't know everything there is to know about college football, but this issue bug me enough that I had to ask. Thanks again.
Jae
#SOURCES: Kendall was already strongly considering returning next year. His education is important to him.
DATS A HOT SAUCE RIGHT THERE!
Well I would love for this to happen, it just can't be in his best interest to risk his future for a chance to finish his education or pursue stat awards in college. If he already has 1st round implications, he should take it. He can always finish his education after being in the league for 10 years and raking in the money.
Hush now. I am still planning that he will take this as a redshirt medical and play here for the next two years. He can pick up a master's before going into the NFL.
Luckily, Fuller has lots of brothers in the NFL who can provide their advice.
I am not set that he would be a first round pick. He has the talent but is prone to injury by his college career resume. Plus there are a lot more games where other cornerbacks can make a name for themselves. In addition, he isn't in a position where he needs $$$ quickly, as said in another comment, he has three brothers who already make good money and advice. Never thought Fuller to leave early in the first place. Stay at Tech, get your degree now, and mama Fuller will be happy. Question of his brothers did all of them stay through their Senior year?
Speaking of his brothers, they're all highly competitive with each other and if he gets a draft grade that puts him in the late first/early second round then I could see him possibly staying an extra year to try and be drafted higher than Kyle was.
What makes this even worse is the fact that CJ Reavis appears to be having a hell of a season?
http://emccathletics.com/sports/fball/2015-16/players/cjreavisblim
15 tackles, 2 INT one for six, yea that sucks.
He's playing in the same conference that Chad Kelly was in.
and to make things worse.. Ole Miss is 2 hours away and Miss St is 1 hr away so you know CJ is getting a ton of exposure..
I know.
Sucks what happened to him to get him sent down there... and if those two schools end up looking at him, there's a chance that the rest of the SEC is too.