Jason Kelce’s 2012 season is very much in jeopardy after the center partially tore the ACL and fully tore the MCL in his right knee.
Anyone who saw Kelce writhing in pain Sunday afternoon knew the outlook was bleak. However, the Eagles aren’t ruling him out just yet. He’ll undergo a diagnostic arthroscope today and then trainers will decide whether to let the knee heal on its own or send Kelce for surgery.
“The reason that you don’t do the ACL reconstruction right away is that if he goes in there and the ACL is totally torn or torn enough that he would fix it, he would come back out and let that MCL heal because you’ll have a better result if the MCL heals,” head trainer Rick Burkholder said.
Best case scenario, Kelce is still looking at 4-6 weeks of rehab. Burkholder said other NFL players have experienced the same injury as Kelce and it’s been a “mixed bag” in terms of which way to handle the recovery.
“Some people get it fixed right away and other people just let the MCL heal and play with the partial,” he said.
In his absence, Dallas Reynolds will take the first-team snaps. Reynolds looked solid in relief Sunday against Baltimore. Coach Andy Reid said the backup center did everything Kelce would have done, including making the protection calls.
“He’s able to handle all of that,” Reid said. “Listen, he had a big challenge. Literally, physically and mentally. He had a couple big men on him but he held his own there. He played good solid football.”
Injury report
LT King Dunlap is day-to-day with a sore hamstring. If he can’t go, Demetress Bell would start Sunday.
WR Jeremy Maclin incurred a hip contusion, this in addition to the hip pointer from last week. He likely will not practice Wednesday.
WR Riley Cooper (collarbone) is making progress, but he won’t be a full participant at practice this week.
S Colt Anderson, the special teams star, hyper-extended his off knee, not his surgically-repaired left knee. He’s also making progress, according to Andy Reid.
