Roy Helu Jr. had surgery on February 5th to correct a lingering injury to his left foot, the Redskins running back said Friday, Tarik El-Bashir of CSN Washington reports.
Helu got hurt in the season opener in 2012 and, after attempting to play through the discomfort, he eventually landed on the injured reserve list September 26, ending his second NFL season after only three games. The originally diagnosis was a turf toe-like ailment, but when Helu still couldn’t run at full speed in January, and X-rays and MRI exams did not reveal any structural damage, he began searching for answers.
“In January, I hit a road block, where I couldn’t sprint but everything else was great. I could jog at a high pace, I just couldn’t sprint,” Helu said in a phone conversation. “I made the decision to see what was wrong. I just knew my body was telling me that, with this amount of time, I should be recovered.”
After visiting with foot and ankle specialist Dr. Robert Anderson in Charlotte, Helu opted for a surgical procedure.
“Off of an instinct that something was wrong, we went into surgery,” Helu said. “And we found out there was damaged cartilage [near the big toe] that was causing the problem, but it wasn’t showing up on anything. Thankfully we found it and now it’s gone. The road to recovery this time, since February, has been a lot better.”
Helu ran for the first time since the surgery on Tuesday, and based on how he’s feeling, he said he’s aiming to be “without limitations” at the start of OTAs on May 20th.
Still wishing and hoping ANTOINE WINFIELD becomes a REDSKIN. Sure would take the pressure off having to draft for need rather than for ability.
Some of my favs in the draft
FS ERIC REID
OT TERRON ARMISTEAD
TE GAVIN ESCOBAR
ILB JON BOSTIC
OLB TY POWELL
CB TERRY HAWTHORNE
RB ZAC STACY
SS COOPER TAYLOR
WR CHRIS HARPER
WR/KR MARCUS DAVIS
Assuming we do not get WINFIELD, my current mock.
RT TERRON ARMSTEAD Arkansas-PB available at # 51, I would take him irrespective of other needs.
FS PHILLIP THOMAS Fresno State or BACARRI RAMBO Georgia at # 85
ILB JON BOSTIC at # 117 Florida
CB DWAYNE GRATZ # 147 Connecticut
OLB TY POWELL # 155 Harding
WR/KR AARON MELLETTE # 181 Elon
RB ZAC STACY # 217 Vanderbilt
UDFA
WR/KR MARCUS DAVIS Va. Tech.
SS COOPER TAYLOR Richmond
C DALTON FREEMAN Clemson
CB JEREMY HARRIS New Mexico State
DE DAVID KING Oklahoma