"Miracle, no torn ACL," said head coach Corey Chamblin. "Just a severely hyper-extended knee."
So that means no surgery for Sanders, but he's certainly not out of the woods. Chamblin does not expect Sanders to be back on the field for the rest of the regular season, but he did say there was a possibility he could be back this year if the team makes a playoff run.
"I really say, it's up to his knee," he said.
Other News:
The time off appears to have done some good for the Riders. Defensive backs Eddie Russ, Milt Collins and Woodny Turenne were all back on the field Wednesday morning. Offensive lineman Brendon LaBatte was also out there.
Defensive linemen Keith Shologan and Brent Hawkins were not, but Chamblin expects Hawkins to practice Thursday. They just held him back a day because of the cold.
Jock Sanders increased roll really seemed to turn the Rider O around...perhaps he will defy all and be back early. I am hoping that with Carr's presense things will also open up. His TD last week showed why he can be such a waepon...DD will benifit from his frame.
It didnt look like a tear when it happened, although it didnt look like it would be the most pleasant thing that could have happened to him. He will be back before the end of the season.
It will be a lost with Sanders out most of the season, his addition the last 2 games really messed up the opponets def. I can only hope someone will step into that spot and do the same thing. IMO Sheets and Sanders added the spark we needed. Time will tell!!
I saw a still picture of it, it looked bad… His knee completely bent backwards, I have the picture saved on my computer, just have no clue how to post it on here. He will be out for the whole regular season according to CC, but might have a shot at returning if we make it deep in the playoffs.
No doubt it could have been a pile worse, but I wouldn't be shocked to see him play in the last game of the season or 1st round of playoffs shout the club be there. It is amazing how fast someone can heal with proper treatment now a days. I can remember seeing friends go down with an ACL...it meant end of career...period. The first leap was breaks...bones used to mean being out for 1/2 the season...now it is almost always within 6 games...sometimes as early as 3. muscle and tendon rehab is a lot harder to deal with, but amazing strides have been made in the past 5 years.
I am really happy to see that Collins was alright though...I feared an upper vertebrae injury the way his posture was after.
Will Hawkins play though? Hope he elevates his game...he is on the verge of being great.
Last I heard on the local sports news, Hawkins will not be playing this week. I’d rather him sit this game against TO so that he is as close to 100% going into the playoffs as possible. TO’s oline isnt that good, and they are playing without Kackert and Ray. I feel the Riders dline should still have a great game without Hawkins in the lineup.
Sanders will be a huge loss as it appears that Chamblain and the offense had big plans for his role in the offense for the final 6 games. The Biggest of which was his increased time as a RB. He fit perfectly into the offense as a change of pace RB for sheets. The second major addition was officially put into place last week and that is the use of Greg Carr as a big target receiver something that they had been missing this season. As usual Chamblain did it the right way did not rush Carr into the lineup but instead let that middle six games to finish up with the schemes and players they had planned for and Carr was able to be completley a big part of the offense in the second of the final 6 games. The first of the inal 6 Carr was worked into the game with limited packages but after last week you can see that he will be a huge part of the Riders rceiving core. He also gives them that # 3 receiver that they have been searching for since Bagg went down. There were many comment even in his first game with limited time that each time he was on the field he drew a lot of attention from the defenses opening more things up for Dressler. Now if they key on dressler they will have Getzlaff and Carr to help exploit defenses.
Chamblain has systematically doing things like this all season to ge the best team he possibliy could onto the field for that last third of the season and into the playoffs.
Great caoching job