2/27/2016 9:13:12 AM
Jaylon Smith tore his ACL and MCL in Notre Dame's bowl game and will miss most, if not all the 2016 regular season. That's been known for a while now, but additional reports emerged this week saying Smith also suffered nerve damage, Kyle Meinke of Mlive reports.
David Chao, a former Chargers doctor, noticed Smith was wearing an "AFO" in a picture he tweeted. An AFO is an ankle/foot orthosis, which is a brace that stabilizes the foot and allows walking if a nerve has been damaged.
Chao later told FanDuel he believed Smith has a nerve palsy, and could fall from a projected top-five pick all the way to the middle rounds.
And Smith didn't do a very good job explaining what's going on.
"No," he said, when asked whether he had suffered nerve damage. "The nerve wasn't stretched at all. It's just the healing game. That's all. It's a process. I'll be back 100 percent. We just don't know when."
But when subsequently asked why he'd be wearing a brace intended to protect the nerve, Smith said, "It's helping the nerve heal. The nerve isn't stretched at all."
So it appears something is going on with the nerve, and that could complicate evaluations. Because Smith, when healthy, is an outstanding football player -- maybe the best one in this draft. He had 225 tackles the past two seasons before going down with the injury.
"If he did not get hurt, he'd be in the conversation for the first pick," NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said. "That's how good a season this kid had."
Jaylon Smith tore his ACL and MCL in Notre Dame's bowl game and will miss most, if not all the 2016 regular season. That's been known for a while now, but additional reports emerged this week saying Smith also suffered nerve damage, Kyle Meinke of Mlive reports.
David Chao, a former Chargers doctor, noticed Smith was wearing an "AFO" in a picture he tweeted. An AFO is an ankle/foot orthosis, which is a brace that stabilizes the foot and allows walking if a nerve has been damaged.
Chao later told FanDuel he believed Smith has a nerve palsy, and could fall from a projected top-five pick all the way to the middle rounds.
And Smith didn't do a very good job explaining what's going on.
"No," he said, when asked whether he had suffered nerve damage. "The nerve wasn't stretched at all. It's just the healing game. That's all. It's a process. I'll be back 100 percent. We just don't know when."
But when subsequently asked why he'd be wearing a brace intended to protect the nerve, Smith said, "It's helping the nerve heal. The nerve isn't stretched at all."
So it appears something is going on with the nerve, and that could complicate evaluations. Because Smith, when healthy, is an outstanding football player -- maybe the best one in this draft. He had 225 tackles the past two seasons before going down with the injury.
"If he did not get hurt, he'd be in the conversation for the first pick," NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said. "That's how good a season this kid had."