Opening Statement:
Here is the interview from Wednesday with GM Marty Hurney over the decision to place Jeff Otah on injured reserve.
Opening statement: We are going to place Jeff Otah on injured reserve today with a left knee injury and we will sign Reggie Wells. As you all know, Jeff has been working really hard since training camp to strengthen that left knee that kept him out last year. He’s worked hard but was never able to get over the hump and he’s had concurrent issues. He’s been listed as questionable the past two weeks due to a back injury. We met with Jeff over the past few days and decided the best thing to do was to put him on IR so he can concentrate on strengthening that knee and essentially take an eleven week loss for a long term future gain.
RE: How has the development of Byron bell played in to this decision?
They are two separate issues, obviously Byron is a good young player, but it’s a very hard decision to put a player of Jeff Otah’s caliber on injured reserve. Again, he has worked very hard to strengthen that knee but he has never made it over that hump. That, along with the concurrent issues, helped us decide that in his best interest and our best long-term interest the best thing to do was place him on injured reserve so he can concentrate on getting his knee as strong as possible.
RE: This was a two-year type injury, what was the extent of it initially and was it made worse this time?
There’s no specific recipe for every player to come back from a certain injury. Especially an injury to a person of Jeff’s size, a big offensive tackle, every injury is different. It’s hard to go into length of time, we know when he hit training he was working very hard. Unfortunately we didn’t have him for the offseason like we usually would due to the lockout. But when he got to training camp, we had a plan and he worked very hard with Joe Kenn to strengthen the knee and was able to play a few games but was still never able to get over the hump. What we want to do is let him focus on the knee, get him out of the pounding of practice and games to eventually get over that hump.
RE: Is it an ACL injury?
No. I will find out the definition of the injury later today. Any time you are operated on, it is a significant injury. It’s just about getting that knee to the strength where it won’t cause any more problems and to get it as strong as a possible.
RE: He’s been listed for back injury the last couple weeks, does that have to do with the knee?
Yes, that is one of the concurrent issues he’s had to deal with. He’s been listed as questionable the past two weeks because of it. I think any time the knee is weak it can lead to other problems. That’s why we want to make sure we give him as much time as possible to strengthen that knee.
RE: What was Jeff’s reaction to the decision?
He was very disappointed. Jeff’s a competitor and wants to be on the field, but he understands it. He wants to play like every other player.
RE: Any thought of moving Travelle Wharton to the right tackle spot?
No, we haven’t discussed it. Travelle does have flexibility, as does Reggie Wells.
RE: After Jeff sat out last season, were you confident this was past him?
Well, it goes back to how injuries never have a finite explanation. Each injury is unique and different. Again, not being able to have him in the offseason didn’t allow us to get as good of a feel for the injury as we wish we had. We just came in to camp with a plan that everyone felt good about, he approached it and worked hard. But unfortunately he was unable to get over the hump.
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