Titans receiver Kenny Britt got off to a great start last season. Then came a non-contact torn ACL, and it was over.
Before it can begin again, Britt may need a second procedure on the knee, according to Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com. It’s not definite at this point, but it’s a possibility that coach Mike Munchak has acknowledged.
“I think it always is [possible],” Munchak said. “I don’t know if he will at some point, but I think that’s something that’s common with that injury. Derrick [Morgan] went through it last year. The good thing is that even if you do have it, it’s not a huge setback. It’s not something that sets you way back. But that is obviously part of the process, or could be, if that arises down the road.”
It would be a simple arthroscopic procedure, not the full-blown operation that happens when an ACL is repaired.
“We don’t look at as a big deal,” Munchak said. “You have to look at it as why it’s happening, but it’s something that with guys who have had ACLs this is very common, something that’s gone on at times. Sometimes it happens much sooner than Derrick’s did, and sometimes it happens like Derrick’s did, once you get more active. We’ll see. He’s been doing well, running hard, and we’ll just have to see how the knee responds.”
While the surgery wouldn’t be regarded as a major setback, the fact that it’s even a potential option at this point demonstrates the reality that it’s no slam dunk to return from an ACL injury at 100 percent the following year. Former Ravens cornerback Domonique Foxworth, for example, tore his during training camp in 2010, and he has yet to get back to where he was before the injury.
The Titans did fairly well without Britt in 2011, but if they hope to become serious contenders this year, they need him on the field and playing at the high level we have seen more and more often as his career has progressed.