When information regarding injuries to draft prospects emerges in the days before the draft, many assume that it’s news to the teams. It isn’t.
Like perceived “risers” and “fallers,” news of injuries means only that the media has caught up with the franchises that will be making the picks.
In the case of Mississippi State cornerback Darius Slay, our Mike Wilkening caught wind on Tuesday of some chatter regarding Slay’s knee. So we both worked the phones and, via multiple sources, learned that Slay is dealing with a torn meniscus in his knee.
Slay, who will attend the draft at Radio City Music Hall, reportedly pulled a muscle while running the short shuttle at his Pro Day workout on March 6, according to Gil Brandt of NFL.com. Omar Kelly of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that Slay “hurt his knee/leg” during the session.
Efforts to reach Slay’s agents, Happy Walters and Eugene Parker, were unsuccessful.
Meniscus tears are fairly routine injuries for football players, and they are not regarded as serious. Some require arthroscopic surgery to repair. The bigger concern is that, as cartilage in the knee becomes compromised, the player is susceptible eventually to the chronic pain and other problems associated with missing cartilage, which cushions the various bones that make up the complex knee joint.