Colts offensive lineman on Jadeveon Clowney's surgery: 'He's screwed'

Microfracture knee surgery has become a dirty term for football players because it's a procedure that isn't exactly easy to come back from.

When the news hit that Houston Texans rookie outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney, the top pick of the 2014 NFL draft, had microfracture surgery to repair his balky knee earlier this week, it should have set off some alarms. It did for Indianapolis Colts offensive lineman Gosder Cherilus, who had that procedure after suffering a knee injury in 2010.

Cherilus' diagnosis for Clowney wasn't pretty.

“He’s screwed,” Cherilus told the Indianapolis Star. "His game is all about explosion. That’s a problem. I’m out there dancing. I’m an offensive lineman. That’s a different ballgame. He’s screwed. I’m just being honest.”

Every surgery is different and so is everyone's recovery. And microfracture – in which tiny holes are made in the bone near damaged cartilage in the knee, allowing the cells in the bones to generate new cartilage – has worked well before.

Tight end Kellen Winslow had microfracture surgery early in 2007 and had 1,106 yards that season. Running back Reggie Bush had microfracture surgery after the 2008 season and maintained his explosion, when he hasn't been dealing with other injuries. Saints receiver Marques Colston and Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce came back from the procedure and were productive. In basketball, Knicks forward Amar'e Stoudemire had the surgery in 2005, scored more than 20 points per game in each of the five seasons that followed, and is still playing at age 32, averaging 13.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.

So let's not totally freak out about Cherilus' prediction. Clowney could end up just fine. But it won't be easy. Cherilus talked with the Star about how it was supposed to take him 12 months to return, but he did it in nine with three-to-five hour rehab in the morning and more in the afternoon. And he said he did that every day for nine months.

This is what Clowney faces.

“You see my leg right here?” Cherilus said. “Imagine putting this on crutches for 10 weeks. You lose everything. The whole leg was numb. I couldn’t even walk. We had to teach the leg to do everything all over again: taking off, cutting, everything.”

So while players have come back from microfracture surgery before, it's not an easy road. Instead of enjoying the career of one of the best defensive prospects to come out of college in years, now we're left to wonder if he'll ever be the player everyone thought he would be.