Nearly a month into the Dolphins’ offseason, a decision still hasn’t arrived on how to proceed regarding Ryan Tannehill‘s knee. The team did not elect to send its franchise quarterback in for surgery after his late-season knee injury, but that is still on the table despite Tannehill injuring his knee in Week 14, Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald reports.
Tannehill could have undergone surgery in December but was determined to attempt to play for the Dolphins in the playoffs. That did not end up coming to fruition, with longtime backup Matt Moore starting in a blowout wild-card loss to the Steelers. Tannehill practiced twice that week, the only time he returned to the field after the ACL/MCL sprain. But the team didn’t place the passer on IR due to the attempt at a return that could have been damaging long-term, given the reinjury risk, and that’s delayed his offseason timetable.
As Beasley points out, the rehab for an ACL surgery is up to nine months, which would eat into Tannehill’s sixth season. That seems unlikely, but the longer the Dolphins wait would further stall Tannehill’s recovery, in the event he does end up requiring surgery. Dolphins executive VP Mike Tannenbaum said nothing’s been decided yet and dodged a question when asked if Tannehill needed another MRI. This stands to put Tannehill’s offseason workload in question.
The worst-case scenario for Tannehill’s present situation could be Justin Houston, who suffered a late-season knee injury in 2015 before attempting to make a return in the playoffs. Said comeback did not yield much of an impact and helped induce a February surgery, and ultimately a 2016 season marred by knee trouble. While the 28-year-old Tannehill doesn’t play as strenuous of a position, he’s more important to his team. So, this is a situation worth monitoring as the offseason continues.
So we sit him til november, just in time to be around .500 next year? Sigh, we can never improve