View Full Version : Lepsis practicing!!
Lepsis back on field for Broncos Team Camp
By Lee Rasizer, Rocky Mountain News
May 29, 2007
ENGLEWOOD ‑Left tackle Matt Lepsis, coming off major knee surgery, took the field for the first time in more than seven months Tuesday at the opening day of Broncos team camp.
Lepsis only went through position drills and not the team portion of the workout.
Nevertheless, it was a significant step for the player, who had a torn anterior cruciate ligament and cartilage damage in his right knee repaired.
"It felt good," Lepsis said. "No pain or anything. I didn’t do a whole lot."
Lepsis added he could line up against defensive linemen possibly next week, rather than wait until July mini-camp.
"If something happens, they’ll just pull me out. Everybody has setbacks with these things. I hope it doesn’t happen. But if it does, I’ll kind of give it a rest and come back when I can."
Denver was 4-1 to start the 2006 season before Lepsis’ was hurt during an Oct. 22 game vs. Cleveland. He had surgery Nov. 7. The tackle had similar surgery on his left knee coming out of the University of Colorado and sat out the 1997 season. He has been a fixture in the starting lineup since ’99.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/nfl/article/0,2777,DRMN_23918_5560484,00.html
Hotrod
05-29-2007, 05:32 PM
Great news.........now dont rush it
Atwater His Ass
05-29-2007, 05:34 PM
awesome
Los Broncos
05-29-2007, 05:54 PM
Good to see him back.
Dr. Broncenstein
05-29-2007, 06:08 PM
Hixon approves.
akaspaz
05-29-2007, 06:11 PM
Good news about Lepis. Any news about who was working at guard?
epicSocialism4tw
05-29-2007, 06:37 PM
Does anyone know what type of procedure he had on his knee?
Hotrod
05-29-2007, 06:39 PM
micro-fracture
epicSocialism4tw
05-29-2007, 07:00 PM
micro-fracture
That sucks. Good luck, Matt.
Needa Pass Rush
05-29-2007, 07:07 PM
Does anyone know what type of procedure he had on his knee?
This from February:
ON THE MEND: Broncos head athletic trainer Steve Antonopulos said the recovery of left tackle Matt Lepsis from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee is progressing well.
Lepsis needed microfracture surgery Nov. 7. But three months into his rehabilitation, he's running in a therapeutic pool and is on target for a full recovery by training camp, though there's a good three more months of recovery time ahead of him.
"Until he gets back on the field, there's always doubts," Antonopulos said when asked whether there's any trepidation about Lepsis returning to form. "But he's done everything we've asked. He hasn't had any apprehension and hasn't had any complications. So everything's going according to schedule."
Safety Sam Brandon also had microfracture surgery after tearing his right ACL in November and has been working out with Lepsis on a similar timetable.
In other injury-related news, safety Nick Ferguson (left knee surgery) should be ready for the April 2 start of the team's offseason conditioning program. Middle linebacker Al Wilson could join him around that time. His recovery period from a second surgery to repair a broken thumb, which this time included a bone graft, knocked him out of the Pro Bowl.
DomCasual
05-29-2007, 07:24 PM
Technology is amazing. It wasn't long ago when an ACL tear meant you were completely out for a solid year, and nowhere near 100% for at least two years. Now, in six months, you can be doing most stuff you were doing before.
orange 4 life
05-29-2007, 07:40 PM
great to hear. with cutler being basically a rookie AND being less mobile
than his predecessor, its incredibly important to have a healthy LT.
Man-Goblin
05-29-2007, 08:10 PM
"It felt good," Lepsis said. "No pain or anything. I didn’t do a whole lot."
...and he can talk!!!
DenverDuo
05-29-2007, 08:13 PM
:flower:
All will be well.
tsiguy96
05-29-2007, 08:17 PM
This from February:
ON THE MEND:
In other injury-related news, safety Nick Ferguson (left knee surgery) should be ready for the April 2 start of the team's offseason conditioning program. Middle linebacker Al Wilson could join him around that time. His recovery period from a second surgery to repair a broken thumb, which this time included a bone graft, knocked him out of the Pro Bowl.
wait, are we re-signing al wilson?
Billy Clyde Puckett
05-29-2007, 08:30 PM
Best news I have heard all day
minibronco
05-29-2007, 08:35 PM
Nice to see him in again. :D
Conklin
05-29-2007, 08:38 PM
wait, are we re-signing al wilson?
that was from a february article about lepsis' operation
dark_hawk
05-29-2007, 08:46 PM
"It felt good," Lepsis said. "No pain or anything. I didn’t do a whole lot."
...and he can talk!!!
yeah and thats probably the last thing you'll hear out of him for a long time too
footstepsfrom#27
05-29-2007, 09:02 PM
I was actually hoping he wouldln't be doing anything until training camp in order to give him the longest possible time to recover. Microfracture knee surgery has been shown to have less reliable results when players attempt to come back to soon. Amare Stoudamire did this on the same schedule as Lepsis when he was 10 years younger, a significant factor...and his return had to be delayed again. Doctors say recovery takes 4-6 months...but the track record of athletes recovering and making it back in that time frame is not good: http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=75318
Cross your fingers and knock on wood.
Kaylore
05-29-2007, 09:23 PM
I was actually hoping he wouldln't be doing anything until training camp in order to give him the longest possible time to recover. Microfracture knee surgery has been shown to have less reliable results when players attempt to come back to soon. Amare Stoudamire did this on the same schedule as Lepsis when he was 10 years younger, a significant factor...and his return had to be delayed again. Doctors say recovery takes 4-6 months...but the track record of athletes recovering and making it back in that time frame is not good: http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=75318
Cross your fingers and knock on wood.
Well there are some major differences here. First, that's really not the same timetable at all, actually. Both were injured in October, but Stoudemire was pushing to play in February and March. This is May and Lepsis is only now going through some drills. Also, he isn't being asked to do as many athletic things as a power forward in basketball. So you're talking about three months more time and they are going more gradually with Lepsis. Also after these camps he's off for two months to just rehab, so his odds are much better.
DeuceOfClub
05-29-2007, 09:31 PM
"Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Lepsis didn’t practice, or that Coach Kevlar was the guy wearing jersey #78."
footstepsfrom#27
05-29-2007, 09:41 PM
Well there are some major differences here. First, that's really not the same timetable at all, actually. Both were injured in October, but Stoudemire was pushing to play in February and March. This is May and Lepsis is only now going through some drills. Also, he isn't being asked to do as many athletic things as a power forward in basketball. So you're talking about three months more time and they are going more gradually with Lepsis. Also after these camps he's off for two months to just rehab, so his odds are much better.
Stoudemire came back in March trying to play, two months difference...but how much he practiced I don't know. He may have played without practicing, or just ran drills but not scrimages. However the significant difference you didn't mention is the most important one...age. Amare was 10 years younger than Matt. In the link provided check out some of the recovery times that NBA players went through before being "normal"...some never were. Also...basketball involves lots of running, jumping, twisting, etc...but no 300 pounders trying to take out your knees.
Again...cross your fingers. The jury will be out quite a while.
RunSilentRunDeep
05-29-2007, 10:17 PM
Obviously, he's still getting his bench presses and meals in. (Assuming the photo is from today (http://www.denverbroncos.com/page.php?id=334&storyID=6843))
cousinal11
05-29-2007, 10:19 PM
Glad to hear this.
Inkana7
05-29-2007, 10:37 PM
Lepsis is an astoundingly handsome man for an NFL Lineman.
I was actually hoping he wouldln't be doing anything until training camp in order to give him the longest possible time to recover. Microfracture knee surgery has been shown to have less reliable results when players attempt to come back to soon. Amare Stoudamire did this on the same schedule as Lepsis when he was 10 years younger, a significant factor...and his return had to be delayed again. Doctors say recovery takes 4-6 months...but the track record of athletes recovering and making it back in that time frame is not good: http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=75318
Cross your fingers and knock on wood.
That article is about bball players. Bball is really tough on knees. OL is not nearly so tough. So my fingers are crossed.
footstepsfrom#27
05-29-2007, 11:31 PM
That article is about bball players. Bball is really tough on knees. OL is not nearly so tough. So my fingers are crossed.
http://www.kffl.com/article.php/64665/74
http://www.kffl.com/article.php/64665/74
Dang. I'll still keep my fingers crossed.
Atlas
05-30-2007, 01:33 AM
"It felt good," Lepsis said. "No pain or anything. I didn’t do a whole lot."
...and he can talk!!!
I wonder if he is going to be fined for that?
fontaine
05-30-2007, 04:40 AM
Like I said before, Lepsis will be fine. Not just that but come September he'll once again be terrorizing LBers on running plays.
The beat down he gave to Ray Lewis the last time we played the jailbirds was textbook stuff on how a tackle should spring to the 2nd level and take out would be tacklers.
cmhargrove
05-30-2007, 09:53 AM
I don't know what I think of Lepsis with the haircut. Maybe Nails will get him to at least stop shaving and get a little "mountain man" look back.
If Lepsis is back to form by the beginning of the season, Greek should be awarded the MVP for the Denver Broncos. I hope he stays around as long as Shanahan, because he will be as big a loss as Gibbs when he goes.
DomCasual
05-30-2007, 01:38 PM
This is from today's Rocky Mountain News. It's interesting that they used a cadaver's ligament to repair his knee this time. My understanding was that they tried to avoid doing that with professional athletes. I tore my ACL about three years ago, and they used a cadaver's graft to repair it. The good news was that it healed amazingly quickly. I was only on crutches for a week, was walking fairly well within about a month, and was playing baseball/softball in about six months. I have been totally happy with it - it's felt better than it has since I was a teenager.
Until about a month ago. I was playing baseball with a little league team I coach, and I felt a little twinge. It turns out, I ripped out the graft that had been acting as my ACL. The thing was, I wasn't doing anything. I was just running the bases - no lateral movement at all. From what my surgeon told me, they use the patellar tendon graft on athletes because it heals stronger. That doesn't matter as much for the ordinary joe, because they usually don't do anything so strenuous that it risks tearing the graft. And the upside is that the body only has one place to heal (where they put the cadaver graft), rather than two (where they put the graft, and where they take the graft).
I hope he has better luck than me.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/nfl/article/0,2777,DRMN_23918_5561865,00.html
Lepsis, media are on speaking terms
Left tackle breaks silence, returns to field after injury
By Lee Rasizer, Rocky Mountain News
May 30, 2007
ENGLEWOOD - Butterflies filled the pit of Matt Lepsis' stomach.
"I'm nervous," he said.
It had been what seemed like eons since the Broncos left tackle had been in a similar situation.
Taking the field for the first time in seven months since reconstructive right knee surgery? Piece of cake. He had just completed that task Tuesday and relayed that he felt fine.
No, talking about that comeback and the road to his return was what really had him squirming.
"This is crazy," he added with a laugh.
But it's also reality in league commissioner Roger Goodell's media-friendly universe, where even silent Broncos offensive linemen must wax poetic to assembled tape recorders.
Lepsis purposely had stayed out of the media eye since March 2006, when he signed a four-year, free-agent deal to potentially remain in Denver for the balance of his career.
The tackle's comeback on the interview front evolved like he hopes his return from his season- ending injury in October will: starting slowly but eventually finding a comfort zone.
"We've got a game plan to get him well," coach Mike Shanahan said. "He did football-related activities (Tuesday), obviously drill work. And he looked good. . . . It's a good sign."
There were no eye-opening feats of athleticism or contact from Lepsis as the Broncos opened two weeks of team camp.
Sporting his familiar high socks, taped hands and elbow sleeves, the 11th-year veteran backpedaled in pass protection, pulled a few times and demonstrated change-of-direction skills firing out on a screen pass. But he never operated against defensive players.
It's Lepsis' goal to begin full activities next week, continuing into July's minicamp, building his way to full speed during training camp and working toward a Sept. 9 regular-season start.
"I'm sure I'll have some setbacks and days where it doesn't feel good," he said. "And I haven't played since October, so I'm going to be rusty even without the knee problem. It's going to take time. But I'm sure by opening day I'll be back to 100 percent."
It's the second time Lepsis has attempted such a comeback.
At the 1997 Senior Bowl, he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and had cartilage repaired through a microfracture procedure.
The main difference this time is the method used to repair the ACL included a graft from a cadaver instead of than one comprised of his own patellar tendon and bone from the tibia and patella.
The more recent procedure reduced the stress to his body and reduced his recovery time by more than four months compared with the previous surgery.
How well things are going won't be known "until I get in there and actually . . . block guys who are paid to do something rather than offensive linemen holding a bag," Lepsis said.
But there was no pain Tuesday and Lepsis moved well, a physical trait he'll be monitoring closely.
"If I come in and can't move like I did before, then, obviously, I won't be here long because I'm not the biggest guy in the world and kind of rely on being a little bit quicker than most tackles," Lepsis said.
But he insisted he is unconcerned about that prospect.
"He moved fine," Broncos offensive coordinator Rick Dennison said of Lepsis' first day back on the field. "But we just did individual and we're not going full speed and all that other stuff. But he's doing some good things."
The Broncos missed Lepsis' presence last season. His ability to play one-on-one with many of the league's top defensive ends in pass protection and his savvy in the run game might have been taken for granted somewhat before his lengthy absence.
He heard a pop making a block against Cleveland on Oct. 22 and after staying in one play, he retired to the sideline in pain, sensing something was seriously wrong.
After surgery, Lepsis was on crutches for six weeks. It wasn't until he was able to walk under his own power, about Christmas, he felt some semblance of strength in the leg and progress in rehabilitation was being made. Lepsis was at the practice facility essentially five days a week since the surgery.
The most visible sign of the comeback comes in the form of a protective brace on Lepsis' repaired knee he's wearing and will continue to sport through preseason camp, at a minimum. Otherwise, Lepsis is about where he and the team thought he would be at this juncture.
"He's been through a rehab before and understands it's a continual process," Dennison said. "He knows that. And he knows each next step."
Until Lepsis is ready to reclaim his starting spot alongside left guard Ben Hamilton and center Tom Nalen, Erik Pears - he took Lepsis' place last season - and Adam Meadows are rotating on the left side with the first team.
On the bright side, all that extra down time means more spare moments to think up dazzling quotes for public consumption.
"I love it. It's great," Lepsis said of the more liberal policy of dealing with the media handed down by Goodell. He paused momentarily, then added, "I could be home right now."
The Broncos, for one, are glad he isn't.
BroncoBuff
05-30-2007, 02:22 PM
Lepsis, media are on speaking terms
Left tackle breaks silence ...
The "Days of Silence" are over for the O-Line. Goodell instituted some rule about EVERY player making themselves available to media every week from now on. Anybody know any more about this?
DomCasual
05-30-2007, 02:53 PM
The "Days of Silence" are over for the O-Line. Goodell instituted some rule about EVERY player making themselves available to media every week from now on. Anybody know any more about this?
It's a new rule they instituted this offseason. Every player has to avail themselves to the media on a regular basis. I'm not sure if that means just after games, for a weekly press conference, or what. But not talking is no longer an option.